Hero “Officer of the Year” Convicted for Child Porn

Farmington Hills, Michigan Hero cop Mathew Parsons has been sentenced to prison following a conviction for child porn. He did much worse than merely receive/view it, too. This onetime “hero” set up a hidden camera in a bathroom.  Parsons agreed to a plea deal and was later sentenced to between one and seven years in prison.

Prior to receiving his customary paid vacation after a tip led to him being found with child porn, Hero Parsons was a twenty-year member of the Farmington Hills Police Department. According to Police Chief Chuck Nebus, Parsons was “an officer in good standing who over the decades had received awards and commendations as well as a few complaints.” Parsons was named Officer of the Year in 2000.

(Via DetroitNews.com):

A longtime Farmington Hills police officer who lost his job over child pornography charges has pleaded guilty to downloading the material, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office announced.

Matthew Parsons pleaded guilty Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court to three felony charges: possession of child sexually abusive material; using a computer to commit a crime; and recording an unclothed person, authorities said in a statement.

As a part of his plea, Parsons is required to register as a sex offender for 15 years and cannot work as a law enforcement officer in Michigan, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Parsons, 48, resigned from the Farmington Hills Police Department on June 15. (Just how do they let people like this resign with full pension and insurance etc? This is criminal!!)

He was arraigned in May at 51st District Court in Waterford Township on multiple charges stemming from the investigation, which began after a tip from the Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office learned someone, identified as Parsons, had been downloading child sexually abusive material. A probe revealed Parsons had downloaded at least 10 videos with the explicit imagery and “surreptitiously filmed an adult in the nude,” state officials said.

Update (Via WXYZ.com):

Matthew Charles Parsons, 48, of Waterford pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to downloading child pornography in July. He resigned from the police department and will be placed on the sex offender registry for 15 years.

He is facing up to 7 years in prison.

Farmington Hills Police Chief Chuck Nebus says investigators from the Michigan Attorney General’s office and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force showed up to the station on May 25 with search warrants.

The focus of the search was Officer Parsons, a 20-year veteran of the department.

“It was shocking that it was one of our own,” says Chief Nebus.