Courthouse security guard arrested
MICHIGAN CITY IND March 9 2019 – A longtime employee of the La Porte County Sheriff’s Department has been terminated after being arrested Wednesday on a charge of possession of child pornography, according to police.
Michigan City Police on Thursday confirmed that Joseph J. Lopez, an 18-year-county employee who worked security at the La Porte County Courthouses in Michigan City and La Porte, was arrested at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
He was arrested at the La Porte County Sheriff’s Department in La Porte following an interview with Michigan CIty Police detectives, according to MCPD Lt. Steve Westphal.
A probably cause affidavit was filed Thursday morning in Superior Court 4, charging one count of possession of child pornography, a Level 6 felony.
According to the affidavit, on or about March 6, Lopez “unlawfully, knowingly or intentionally” was “in possession of numerous child pornography images and videos.”
The affidavit provided no further information, and did not say where the “images and videos” were stored or how they were discovered.
Sheriff John Boyd said Thursday that Lopez had been an employee of the department since January 2001, and was initially hired as a jail guard.
“His most recent assignment was working security at the courthouse,” according to Boyd. “He had only limited power and never attended the police academy.”
Boyd said the investigation was initiated and handled by Michigan City Police, and he would not comment on the particulars of another agency’s case.
However, he said he assumed the alleged child pornography was found on a personal computer or device.
“He was not assigned a computer at the courthouse, and had no county-issued computer or laptop assigned to him,” the sheriff said. “There has been no indication that the charges were related to his work or county equipment.”
Lopez, a 50-year-old La Porte resident, was released on bond from the La Porte County Jail and is scheduled for an initial court hearing on Friday in Superior Court 4.
Boyd said Lopez was suspended without pay when the sheriff’s department learned of the arrest, and “was terminated Wednesday afternoon.”
Lopez wears a uniform in his courthouse security position, but is not a deputy, according to MCPD.
“Mr. Lopez was not a sworn police officer,” Westphal said. “He was a civilian employee with the sheriff’s department.”
He said some reports initially spread that the arrest involved an MCPD officer, “but that rumor is not true,” he said.
The FBI’s GRIT Task Force assisted in the investigation, Westphal said.
News-Dispatch
