GRANBY, Conn., May 30 (UPI) -- A small Connecticut town must be in shock after a respected police officer's arrest on child pornography charges, an acquaintance says.
Police Capt. David Bourque, who was expected to become the next chief in Granby before he was arrested April 27, is accused of downloading more than 100,000 images depicting boys, some of them babies, The Hartford Courant reported Monday.
The 51-year-old law enforcement officer tried to kill himself after investigators came to seize his computers, the newspaper said.
"Anybody who knows David at all has to be completely surprised," said Simsbury Police Chief Peter Ingvertsen, who was one of Bourque's references when he applied for a job on the Granby force in 2009. "The whole thing is just shocking."
Bourque, a member of Granby's youth advisory board, is not accused of actual misconduct with children or producing the images, a more serious charge.
Bourque passed all standard background, polygraph and psychological tests before the department hired him in January 2010 after a 30-year law enforcement career.
Police in Maine did report being called in about a domestic dispute with his ex-wife in 2009, but no charges ensued.
The Rev. Daniel Schroeder, a member of the committee that interviewed Bourque, told the Courant he seemed extremely nervous and avoided eye contact with the women on the panel.
Bourque is free on $150,000 bond while awaiting his federal trial and is on paid administrative leave. He allegedly admits having some of the images and has been cooperating with investigators, the Courant said. He has been ordered to live with his brother and keep away from all children, including his second wife's young daughter.
