MIAMI – A Miami-Dade police officer has been arrested and relieved of duty following his arrest on child pornography charges.
Local 10 News was at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in west Miami-Dade County Thursday night when the officer, who was in handcuffs and had his head covered, was led into the jail.
Jail records identified the officer as 33-year-old David Jay Behney. He is facing 19 counts of possession of material showing sexual performance by a child.
According to his arrest warrant, the investigation began in November after Kik messenger reported to the police department that child pornography was being uploaded to the service by a user whose IP address was located in Miami-Dade County.
Police said that IP address was linked to Behney.
According to the warrant, Kik responded to a search warrant that was issued by a judge at the end of December, which revealed a video montage of 11 prepubescent girls engaged in sexual acts.
Police said all the girls appeared to be under 13 years old.
Behney appeared in court Friday morning, along with his attorney, his wife and his mother-in-law.
The judge ordered that the officer be held in lieu of a $95,000 bond. If he posts bond, he must surrender his passport and is not allowed to have any contact with minors, including his own children.
Behney’s attorney Diego Weiner disclosed in court that the officer has three children between the ages of 8 months and 6 years.
“Our client is facing very serious charges. However, the case has just begun. In our justice system, everyone is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty,” Weiner said in a statement.
Neighbors said investigators were at the officer’s southwest Miami-Dade home on Thursday.
Miami-Dade Police Director George Perez released a statement Thursday that read:
“Our children trust us to keep them safe and out of harm’s way. Not only as law enforcement, but as a father, a crime against a child is intolerable and will never be accepted. It sickens me to learn that one of our law enforcement officers is involved in betraying that trust. We will ensure transparency to our community and will provide an update as this investigation continues.”
On Friday, Perez said, “It’s very disturbing. Quite frankly, it sickens me that anyone would engage in that kind of behavior ... you can absolutely expect an escalation of criminal charges should we find or discover additional evidence.”
Read the statement from the officer’s attorney:
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