What may have seemed to onlookers as a police officer taking a break from patrolling the streets, turned out to be something much more sinister.
Florida cop Michael Harding’s profile is hardly that of a criminal.
Apart from the fact that he is a member of law enforcement, the twenty-seven year old married man and father of three was once named “Office of the Year” in 2011.
However, on July 23 when he was set to commence his overnight shift, he sat in his patrol car and posted explicit material to the Kik chatroom #toddlerf**k under the online name destheabovee.
His fall from grace began when a Homeland Security Investigator chanced upon his posts and these were tracked back to Harding’s IP address and cell phone number.
The officials then searched the Port St. Lucie officer’s home only to find hundreds of child pornography materials including photos and videos saved on a thumb drive.
He had been hiding it in a gun case in his bedroom.
There was also another thumb drive which had at least 23 pornographic images that had been deleted.
The children in the photographs and videos were quite young – from pre-school age to pre-pubescence.
Last week Harding was arrested and a public defender was appointed for him the following day.
Ruling that he could pose a risk to the community, the judge decided not to set a bond for his release.
This is a matter of serious concern because Harding passed his hiring tests as well as a polygraph test with flying colors.
He did not have any disciplinary actions against him in his last job.
However, there is one blemish on his near perfect record that could have pointed towards underlying issues.
Prior to starting with Port St. Lucie he worked for Fort Pierce.
When he decided to leave in 2012 he did not follow proper resignation procedure and left abruptly.
This left some bad blood between him and his former employer.
It is a serious worry that Harding was left in charge of taking care of the community and all the while he carried such a heinous secret with him.
Members of the public are raising questions as to why the supposedly accomplished officer’s creepy activities were so hard to find.
Officer Harding is charged with receiving and distributing material involving sexual exploitation of children, as well as possession of child pornography.
Watch the video below:
