Police officer faces felony child porn charges

A Mountain View police officer is facing felony charges after being arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

San Jose police say their detectives — along with officers from a Silicon Valley task force that investigates Internet crimes targeting children  — arrested Kevin Nguyen at the Mountain View Police Department Tuesday afternoon.

The arrest of the veteran officer comes after San Jose police — which heads up the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force — and other officers from the force served a search warrant at the San Jose home of Nguyen earlier in the day.

While searching his home, detectives say they found the child pornography on his computer.

The 36-year-old Nguyen is a seven-year veteran of the Mountain View Police Department.

After word of his arrest was released, Mountain View police, noting that department officials could not comment on the investigation, posted an open letter via social media about Nguyen’s arrest:

“If true, the allegation against Officer Nguyen is deeply unsettling.  However, we trust and have faith in our judicial system to conduct a thorough investigation resulting in the appropriate outcome. In the meantime, we will continue to cooperate with the San Jose Police Department as they proceed with their criminal investigation.”

Mountain View police, terming the arrest of  Nguyen an “extremely difficult time”  for the department as well as for the community, also announced they had placed him on paid administrative leave.

The task force that investigated Nguyen is comprised of detectives from agencies in eleven counties, ranging from Sonoma County to San Benito County.

Investigators from the force, or SVICAC, working with the FBI and other federal agencies, have been responsible for putting a number of child predators behind bars since it was established in 2003.

As reported by SFBay in August, an investigation by the task force led to the arrest of a Santa Cruz County man on child pornography charges, with police saying he even downloaded pornographic images onto his cellphone while being interviewed by detectives.

That man — 36-year-old Walter Gafvert III — later pleaded no contest to child pornography charges and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.  He’ll also be on probation and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, in the allegations concerning Nguyen, police are urging anyone who may have information about the case to contact San Jose police detectives.