Polk County firefighter resigns after child porn arrest, deputies say
LAKE WALES, Fla. (FOX 13) - A now-former firefighter has been accused of having child pornography images, according to Polk County investigators.
On Monday, deputies arrested 49-year-old Richard Parr of Lake Wales on nearly two dozen child porn charges. About a month before his arrested, detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said they received a tip from the National Center Missing and Exploited Children.
They said a child pornography image was first discovered on January 22. Then, 21 additional images were identified and flagged to an IP address at Parr’s home, officials said. The images showed boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 15 years. Detectives said the images depicted the children in a “lewd manner” with other children and adults.
A search warrant was served at Parr’s Lake Wales’ home on Monday, and he was arrested. Detectives also took his electronic devices and digital storage devices. Additional charges may be added after a forensic search, they said.
The identifies of the children and where the images originated are not known, but the investigation is ongoing.
Parr was employed as a firefighter with the Polk County Fire Rescue and resigned following his arrest, officials said.
"Make no mistake, those who view, possess, buy, and trade child pornography are complicit in the crime against the child depicted in the images. Some have not gotten the message,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd in a statement. “People in public trust positions are held to a higher standard and we expect better from them. The person we arrested is in a profession that a lot of kids look up to as a role model. We are going to continue to conduct these kinds of investigations to protect our children from those who trade and download child pornography-the demand for this vile material harms children, and ruins lives."