A former California Highway Patrol officer from Redding is charged with receiving child pornography while serving as an officer and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento said.
Timothy Allen Horwath, 50, allegedly received videos of children in sexually explicit conduct from February to October of this year while still serving as a CHP officer, federal prosecutors said in court documents.
In an indictment filed Dec. 5, prosecutors allege Horwath received explicit videos involving children between the ages of 4 and 7 on two phones and a laptop.
Horwath did not immediately respond to a telephone message left at a listing for him and it was not immediately known if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He is scheduled to be in court for a detention hearing Wednesday.
CHP Chief Elizabeth Barkley said in a statement Monday that the alleged conduct occurred "while the employee was on and off duty."
"I want to assure the public that the Department takes any allegation of misconduct by our employees, whether on or off duty, very seriously," she said.
Barkley said Horwath stopped working on Nov. 12 but did not say whether he was allowed to retire while the allegations were pending or was dismissed.
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CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said state law prevents her from discussing Horwath's case.
Horwath was arrested at his Redding home in October as part of a months-long investigation by the CHP, the FBI and the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution to his victims if found guilty.
