News: Cal Firefighter arrested - Child Porn Images

State firefighter jailed in child porn case

100 images on Exeter man's computer reported by friend.

A state firefighter who allegedly mentored youngsters interested in firefighting careers and was a youth swim coach was arrested Wednesday on federal charges of possessing child pornography.

Exeter resident Edward Wright Jones, 46, was being held at Fresno County Jail after an investigation by members of the Fresno Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Tulare Police Department.

According to court records, the case began this month when a Tulare man told police his friend, an elementary school teacher and volunteer firefighter, said he saw images of nude children on Jones' laptop computer at a county fire station in Tulare.

Law enforcement officials later talked to the friend, who confirmed the information, and then questioned Jones at his Exeter home.

After confiscating the computer, court records indicate that officials found about 100 images of child pornography on Jones' hard drive, including scenes of girls who appeared to be as young as 5 being sexually assaulted by adults.

The federal reports on Jones' arrest don't make clear what Jones' role was as a mentor, but the report said the program was designed as an explorer program for high school-age boys and girls interested in becoming firefighters. The federal court records indicate Jones is now stationed at a Cal Fire facility in Porterville.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials declined to comment on the arrest Thursday, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Paul Marquez said.

Court records also did not say exactly where in Exeter that Jones coached swimming, but he allegedly told investigators he'd been a youth coach there for the past 12 years. Efforts to contact Exeter city recreation and school officials to confirm the information were not returned Thursday.

Suspicion about Jones possessing child pornography first came to light April 9, when the Tulare man recounted his friend's story about Jones to a Tulare police detective.

Police contacted the man's friend, who said rumors were circulating at the firehouse that Jones, a Cal Fire captain, liked to look at pornography on his computer while at the station.

The man told investigators that in June 2007, he was alone at the fire station along Foster Drive in Tulare when he saw Jones' computer on a desk in the office. The computer was on and had a screen saver running.

According to the court records, the man clicked on a folder on the computer called, "My Pictures," and saw it contained about 100 files with titles such as "5YO," "8YO," and "10YO." The man said he opened one file and was surprised to see an image of two young girls in a sexually explicit pose. Another picture showed what appeared to be a 4- or 5-year-old girl being sexually assaulted by a man.

The report said the witness believed the titles of the files corresponded with the ages of the children in the photos. When asked why he didn't report the information sooner, the man said he wanted to wait until enough time passed that he could make an anonymous report to police without Jones learning his identity.

Investigators then obtained search warrants for Jones' Exeter home, for two vehicles registered to Jones and for the Porterville fire station where he currently works. Investigators went to Jones' home and asked him about the allegations.

During a voluntary interview, officials said, Jones confessed to having about 100 images of child pornography saved on his computer.

Source: Fresno Bee - Article