NEW YORK (AP) - Federal authorities are investigating a veteran New York City police officer suspected of soliciting and purchasing child pornography.
Search warrants filed this week show Homeland Security Investigations has opened an inquiry into the online activity of Timothy Martinez, including messages he exchanged last year with a person identified on Twitter as a 14-year-old girl.
Homeland security agents seized Martinez’s laptop computer and obtained a warrant to search his Staten Island residence, the records show.
The search warrants say Martinez, 39, made several online payments to a person he “believed to be a 14-year-old girl” in exchange for pornographic images and videos.
Messages seeking comment were left Friday for Martinez, who according to the court filings is on military leave from the New York Police Department. Martinez has not been arrested.
It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
An NYPD spokesman said the case remains “under internal review.”
Martinez has been on the force since 2006.
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