Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Google tip led to Metro officer’s arrest on child porn counts

James Henry

COURTESY / Metro Police

James Henry faces 10 counts of possession of child pornography and 10 counts of distribution of child pornography.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 | 5:20 p.m.

A Metro Police patrol officer has been arrested on counts of possession and distribution of child pornography after Google tipped off the authorities, the department announced today.

The officer, identified as 37-year-old James William Henry, surrendered to investigators this morning at the Clark County Detention Center, police said in a statement. He was being held without bail.

Google notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on June 30 of a user uploading an image of "child sexual exploitation," according to the declaration of warrant/summons issued for Henry.

The tip was forwarded to Metro Police on July 22, and police subpoenaed Cox Communications for records relating to the user Aug. 16, according to the declaration.

The company responded Sept. 23 with Henry's information, the declaration said.

From there, Metro Police obtained a search warrant for Henry's email, which contained nine other images of nude boys who appear to be 9 to 16 years old, police said.

On Oct. 2, Metro obtained a search warrant for Henry's cellphone, computers and other digital media, the declaration said.

Officers contacted Henry, who admitted to uploading seven or eight images to his Google account and described them as "captivating and titillating," according to the declaration.

A forensic examination didn't locate images on the computer.

Images of young-looking males in sex acts were found, but none could be verified as child pornography, the declaration said.

An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday, according to court records.

Henry faces 10 counts of possession of child pornography and 10 counts of distribution of child pornography for the images in his Google account, police said.

He will be placed on unpaid administrative leave, Deputy Chief Al Salinas said at a news conference today.

Henry has been employed with Metro since January 2002. He is assigned to the Patrol Division, Convention Center Area Command.

Henry is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Township Justice Court at 8 a.m. Friday.

Due to the ongoing nature of the criminal investigation, additional charges may be filed as more information becomes available, Salinas said.

Sun reporter Pashtana Usufzy contributed to this report.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy