TAMPA BAY, Fla — A retired Tampa PD sergeant is behind bars after detectives charged him with 100 counts of possession of child pornography.
In a press conference Wednesday, Tampa Police Chief Mary O'Connor said Paul Mumford, 61, was arrested after an investigation revealed he had possession of photos of underage children.
"I can't use any other words other than disappointing, disturbing," she said.
Mumford served as a police officer with the Tampa Police Department from June 1986 through September 2015. In October of 2015, Mumford returned to TPD as a reserve officer.
In December of 2021 police received a tip that Mumford had child porn. According to police records, that tip came from someone who said Mumford had given them a hard drive in hopes of recovering some files. That person told police that while working on the hard drive, they found the porn.
A several-month investigation then ensued.
In January 2022, detectives searched Mumford's two homes and found dozens and dozens of pictures of child porn on a hard drive, laptop, and other devices. He was immediately relieved of duty as a reserve officer, and on February 15, 2022, the Tampa Police Department officially terminated him from the reserve force.
Chief O'Connor told news outlets Wednesday that Mumford worked in the Tampa Police Department's Sex Crimes Unit between 2008-2009. His involvement with that unit is now raising questions about where he got the pornographic pictures from. At this point, Chief O'Connor says they don't have any information that he got them while on the job.
"Back then, when sex crimes detectives worked cases, they were primarily sexual batteries and child abuse cases, the internet and crimes against children unit is fairly new, long after sergeant Mumford retired and worked in that unit so I don't even know if he had access to or worked any child pornography cases," she said.
TPD says they're now working with other agencies to try and identify the victims in this case. In the meantime, Mumford is being held on a $750,000 bail.
Watch the announcement below:
