Polk County Firefighter Arrested On Child Porn Charges

LAKE WALES, FL -- A Polk County firefighter was taken into custody Monday on child pornography charges.

Richard Parr of Lake Wales was charged with 22 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography, according to Brian Bruchey of the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

"Richard Parr was a firefighter employed by Polk County Fire Rescue," said Bruchey. "He immediately resigned at the time of his arrest."

The investigation began on March 6 when detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to Bruchey.

"Make no mistake, those who view, possess, buy and trade child pornography are complicit in the crime against the child depicted in the images," declared Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "Some have not gotten the message."

Judd said Parr violated a public trust.

"People in public trust positions are held to a higher standard and we expect better from them," Judd said. "The person we arrested is in a profession that a lot of kids look up to as a role model."

Investigators discovered 22 images associated with an IP address traced back to Parr's home in Lake Wales.

"The images depicted boys and girls between the approximate ages of 5 and 15-years-old," Bruchey said. "The children were displayed in a lewd manner with adults and or other children."

The sheriff's office executed a search warrant at Parr's home at the time of his arrest.

"Numerous electronic devices and digital storage devices were taken by detectives," Bruchey added. "A forensic search of those items will be conducted and additional charges are possible, pending the outcome of that search."

The sheriff's office did not know the names of the children or where the images came from.