This article was originally published on sister news site Darienite.com
A 66-year-old Darien man who was a school crossing guard until schools closed in March was arrested Tuesday on a charge of possession of child pornography, Darien police said.
On March 31, police searched the 170 Hollow Tree Ridge Road home of Daniel P. Poccia, where they seized 20 printed images “containing visual depictions of child pornography,” a police news release said. Although police also seized “several electronic items” from Poccia’s home, they found no further evidence relating to the charge except the 20 printed images.
Poccia, hired last August as a crossing guard by Darien Public Schools, had no prior arrest record, and police said that they have no evidence suggesting he had any inappropriate contact with children.
“At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that Poccia had any inappropriate contact with any minors from Darien or any other area, nor is there any evidence that local minors are depicted in the images,” Darien Police said in a news release.
Police gave this account of the investigation, including accusations against Poccia not proven in court:
On Feb. 28, a Darien police officer with the Tactical Investigation Unit of Southwestern Connecticut, received a CyberTipline report, a nationwide reporting service from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip indicated that images of suspected child pornography had been downloaded to an Internet address in Darien.
Police immediately started an investigation and got search warrants approved to get more detailed information on the location and ownership of the Internet (or “IP”) address.