Lee LeonardPASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Jackson County Sheriff's investigators Tuesday arrested a former police officer on child pornography charges, Sheriff Mike Byrd said.
Lee Leonard, 46, a former Ocean Springs Police Department employee, is the 20th man and second police officer charged with possession of kiddie porn this year, Byrd said.
Leonard was charged with six counts of possession of child porn, Byrd said.
Leonard resigned Oct. 14 during an internal investigtion by Ocean Springs police, the sheriff said.
"It had nothing to do with this," Byrd said.
Detectives have been using state Attorney General Jim Hood's Internet Crimes Against Children computer system since January. The system employs advanced technologies to catch down suspected child predators. Harrison and Hancock counties began using the system last month.
Byrd said Leonard had numerous movies and photographs depicting images of boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 10 in sexual situations on the hard drive of his home computer.
Leonard had been under investigation for about a month by the sheriff and Ocean Springs departments' criminal investigation division, Byrd said.
If convicted, the former officer face up to 40 years in prison on each count.