SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A San Jose community service officer who was already facing illegal weapons charges has been accused of possessing child pornography.
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San Jose Police Department employee Denis Shevchenko, 41, of Gilroy, is now facing a federal child pornography charge.
According to an indictment obtained by Bay Area News Group, Shevchenko has been charged with a single count of possessing child pornography, specifically a "visual depiction" of a child younger than 12 years old.
The officer had already been arrested for the possession of child pornography at the state level after allegedly admitting to authorities in November that he had a hard drive containing 15,000 files of child porn, but the outlet reported that he claimed it didn’t belong to him.
"We are continuing our investigation into Denis Shevchenko’s current and prior allegations. Our detectives have worked diligently in reviewing and sorting out all evidence in this case and in the process have discovered child pornography on some of his electronic devices," San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said in a statement. "I remain committed to ensuring the highest level of integrity and professionalism from all Department members and will not tolerate this kind of misconduct and behavior."
In October, the FBI's San Francisco Bay Area division linked Shevchenko to multiple potentially threatening comments posted on the alt-right social media platform Gab. According to a police investigative summary the newspaper group obtained, he allegedly "solicited people to shoot police officers and to kill people based on political ideation."
If convicted for the child pornography charge, Shevchenko faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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