LAKE WALES, Fla. — A Polk County Fire Rescue firefighter has resigned after his arrest for 22 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography.
Richard Parr, 49, had 22 pictures depicting boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 15 engaged in lewd acts with adults and/or other children, according to the sheriff's office.
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Detectives began investigating after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. An image discovered in January led detectives to finding an additional 21 images. They all traced back to Parr's IP address, according to the sheriff's office.
While executing a search warrant of Parr's home on April 8, authorities found numerous electronic and digital storage devices. Those will be forensically searched and could result in additional charges, the sheriff's office says.
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The identities of the children in the images, and where the images originated is unknown at this time.
"Make no mistake, those who view, possess, buy, and trade child pornography are complicit in the crime against the child depicted in the images," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "Some have not gotten the message. 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."
Parr was a firefighter up until his arrest, when he immediately resigned.
