Mountain View police officer arrested for child porn
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.
Police have set up a special number for those who want information or have concerns or questions about the case: 650-386-8063.
