BIRMINGHAM, Alabama
-- A former Birmingham cop charged with arson in connection to a series of
fires in Ensley and Warrior was recently charged with possessing child
pornography, according to court records.
Curtis Jeffrey Thornton, 27, was booked into the Jefferson
County Jail Monday and is being held on $100,000 bond on the child pornography
charge, according to the jail log.
An affidavit filed on Jan. 23 by a Birmingham police
detective accuses Thornton of possessing a laptop computer with images of a
person under 17.
Efforts to obtain additional information from Birmingham
police about the latest charge were unsuccessful.
Thornton was previously charged with two counts of arson and
one count each of criminal mischief and attempted arson. Those stem from a
series of fires and arson attempts near Thornton's Dana Road home in Warrior
and a fire at 1708 29th St. in Ensley on May 21. He is set to stand trial on
those charges in March.
Thornton joined the Birmingham force Aug. 3, 2009, and was
assigned as a patrol officer in the city's West Precinct. He was fired in
December.
The 28th Street Ensley fire was one of a series of
suspicious fires in west Birmingham in 2012.
A second Birmingham cop, Jason Arnold, 35, of Hoover, and a
third suspect, Anthony Weaver, 48, were charged with arson in connection with
two of those fires at 2901 Ensley Avenue and 2532 Warrior Road.