Tiffany Wilson
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) --
A Mountain View police officer is under arrest on child
pornography charges. Officer Kevin Nguyen is a seven-year veteran of the
Mountain View Police Department. He was arrested Tuesday afternoon at police
headquarters.
Mountain View is a small department with only 96 officers and
when the chief told his staff about the child pornography allegations, he says
many were devastated.
Neighbors saw Nguyen's home surrounded by a dozen San Jose
police cruisers Tuesday. They say officers spent hours investigating and say
they are shocked by what was found.
"It was child pornography found on his personal
laptop," San Jose Police Sgt. Heather Randol said.
Neighbors say Nguyen lived in the back and rented out the front
house.
"They also located another resident inside who had a laptop
containing child pornography; he was also arrested and booked into the country
jail," Randol said.
At the Mountain View Police Department, where the code of ethics
is proudly on display, the chief says officer's Nguyen's arrest hit hard.
"It's extremely disappointing, for my myself and the entire
department, we feel awful when there's an allegation against a police officer
for any wrongdoing, but these kind of charges make it even more
disturbing," Chief Scott Vermeer said.
A seven year veteran of the department, Nguyen spent a lot of
time on patrol, but he is known for his talent as sketch artist. In 2011 he
taught a monthly art class to students at Castro Elementary School as part of
the Police Activities League. Since then he's remained active in the PAL
program.
Mountain View posted a statement about the arrest on its police
website and Vermeer says his department started an internal investigation.
"We are now doing searches of the work computers here as
part of our internal investigation," he said.
San Jose investigators will soon present their evidence to the
district attorney.
"We want the public to know regardless if somebody is an
officer or just an average citizen, we will do a thorough investigation and
make an arrest if warranted," Randol said.
