THE THIN BLUE LINE
A police officer, who worked at an elementary school, has been arrested for possessing child pornography. Authorities identified him as Steven Selph, 39. He was fired. “With the completion of the criminal investigation, he was immediately terminated,” wrote the Altamonte Springs Police Department in Seminole County, Florida. “That anyone could view images of this kind shocks the conscience and is abhorrent to all of us, particularly from a person placed in a position of trust. We will continue cooperating with all of our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue anyone, no matter what position they hold, who is responsible for this type of behavior.”
The incidents happened between May 31 and Tuesday, according to WESH. FDLE said they discovered electronic devices at his home. The children depicted in the imagery were “clearly and obviously under the age of 18” and one was “younger than the age of 5,” authorities said in the arrest report. He also participated in chats on the Kik instant messaging app. Chats featured titles such as “Family Secrets, Cheer Girls, Cheerleading Uniforms.” Investigators wrote, “many of these chats were occurring while he was working as a School Resource Officer at an Elementary School.”
Selph wrote texts discussing wanting to have sex with kids, according to the arrest affidavit reported by WFTV. He wrote some of these texts while on-duty at the school and sent several photos of himself while in uniform.
He’s charged with 10 counts related to child pornography.
