Metro cop facing child porn charges surrenders.

 

A former Las Vegas police officer facing child pornography charges turned himself in on Wednesday.

Patrick Taylor, 50, is facing one count of possession of child pornography and two counts of distribution of child pornography, Metro said.

In a prepared statement released Wednesday afternoon, Metro said investigators searched a home on March 19 after they got information about alleged child porn. The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Internal Affairs Bureau carried out parallel investigations that resulted in a warrant for Taylor’s arrest.

Police said Taylor turned himself in at the Regional Justice Center and had his initial court appearance Wednesday morning.

No bail was posted, and Taylor was let out on the condition that he has no contact with the victim and no access to the internet or social media, according to court records.

Las Vegas-based lawyer Lance Hendron is serving as Taylor’s counsel and declined to comment Wednesday.

Taylor worked in the Analytical Section under the Metropolitan Police Department’s Law Enforcement Investigations and Administrations Group, police said. He started with the force in 1989 and left on May 13. His total salary with benefits in 2014 was $139,361.87.

Taylor isn’t the first Metro officer to face child porn allegations in recent months. Metro officer James Henry, 37, pleaded guilty in December to one count of possessing a visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child. He was sentenced to four years on probation in April.

Henry was originally charged with 10 counts of child pornography possession. Prosecutors said several images were found on an online storage account that belonged to him.

The 12-year department veteran was arrested in October after an investigation into child pornography on his Google cloud account. Henry worked as a patrol officer in Metro’s Convention Center Area Command, which includes the Strip.

He now works in the air conditioning and heating business, cleaning ducts, his lawyer told the Review-Journal in April.