BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - A judge
today denied a request for bond for a Birmingham police officer, who faces
arson and child pornography charges. The arson charges are related to a series
of fires in western Birmingham and in Warrior.
Two other people, including
another Birmingham police officer, are charged in connection with the arsons in
western Birmingham.
Jefferson County Circuit Court
Judge Clyde Jones, citing the seriousness of the charges, denied bond for
Curtis Jeffrey Thornton during a hearing this morning. Thornton's trial is set
for June 10.
Jones asked Deputy Jefferson
County District Attorney John Geer why he thought Thornton may have committed
the arsons. "Personally, I think he's a fire bug, a pyromaniac," he
said.
Thornton's attorney, Brett Austin
Hamock, after the hearing, said that his client maintains his innocence and he
will fight all the charges. "There is no evidence to support he is a fire
bug," he said.
Hamock said that the child
pornography charge is "not what people think it is."
Under state law any photos of
what somebody thinks might be someone under the age of 17 could be used to
bring a child pornography charge, Hamock said.
Thornton was indicted on the
three counts of second degree arson, one count of attempted arson, and one count
of criminal mischief, plus the possession of child pornography charge.
Geer said that the pornography
charge also has been sent to a grand jury. Thornton could face up to seven
counts of possession of child pornography based on seven images found on the computer,
he told the judge.
Geer argued that Thornton was a
flight risk and was a danger to the public.
Hamock said that Thornton
wasn't a danger to the public or a flight risk because he had appeared at all
his hearings while previously out on bond on the arson charges. The bond was
revoked after Thornton was re-arrested on the child porn charge in January.
Two others, including another
Birmingham police officer, are charged in relation to an investigation of fires
at homes in the western Birmingham community of Ensley. The three are set for
separate trials.