A state trooper assigned to protect the state's highest officials is facing felony charges of possessing child pornography after more than 3,000 images were found on a computer in his home, according to Baltimore County police.
Investigators say Bruce Allen Tucker, 47, of Esplanade Court in Owings Mills had received and exchanged images of child pornography, including pubescent and pre-pubescent girls performing sex acts with adults.
He was arrested Friday and released after posting $50,000 bail.
State police spokeswoman Elena Russo said Tucker had been suspended without pay. She confirmed that he had been a member of the executive protection team from January 2002 through February 2010, providing security for the governor and lieutenant governors in the Glendening, Ehrlich and O'Malley administrations.
According to the statement of charges, the investigation began in March, based on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Tucker might have been exchanging child porn in an AOL chat room. AOL closed his account that month, but detectives believe he started a new one.
Police obtained a search warrant for Tucker's apartment in May and seized a laptop, which was found in a water heater closet, as well as a thumb drive, floppy disks and three disposable 35-mm cameras. A forensic investigation revealed images on the laptop showing both boys and girls from 2 to 14 years old.
After the search of his apartment, Tucker told an investigator that his wife had cheated on him and left him in 2005, leaving him feeling "very depressed", "worthless" and "angry," according to charging documents.
He also said he wasn't sure why he began collecting and sharing the images in AOL chat rooms in 2009, but he was "more curious about it than looking at it for sexual purposes."
All the exchanges of images occurred while Tucker was off duty, said Lt. Robert McCullough, a Baltimore County police spokesman.
Tucker has been a trooper for 13 years and was working as an investigator at the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center at the time of his arrest, McCullough said. According to its website, the center conducts research for federal, state and local law enforcement, public health, public safety and homeland security agencies.
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