A 43-year-old Yale police officer who was arrested on child pornography charges is seeking permission to be released from custody to his dad’s house as his criminal case works its way through federal court.
That’s according to a four-page motion for release on bond that the officer’s attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Phoebe Bodurtha, filed with the U.S. District Court of Connecticut on Monday.
The case involves a Yale cop and Hamden resident who was arrested on April 4. He has been charged with violating federal laws prohibiting the receipt of child pornography and the possession of child pornography.
The U.S. Attorney’s office announced that arrest in a Monday afternoon email press release.
According to that release, the child pornography possession charge carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, and the receipt of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison and a maximum of 20.
A Yale spokesperson told the Independent that the officer was placed on paid administrative leave on April 4 due to the active arrest warrant served by state police. He is currently prohibited from entering Yale police headquarters or any other university buildings or property.
The motion for release on bond that the officer’s attorney submitted to the federal court on Monday, meanwhile, proposes that the officer be released to reside with his father in West Haven. The motion states that the officer’s father will serve as a third-party custodian and bond co-signor. The officer’s wife and aunt would also serve as third-party custodians and bond co-signors.
The motion also proposes home detention with GPS monitoring; no traveling outside of Connecticut; the surrender of his passport; no internet access “except for one internet-capable device, monitored by Probation via monitoring software, if permitted by the Court;” and his engagement in mental health treatment.
Monday’s press release states that the officer is currently detained. A detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Bridgeport.
The officer has not yet entered a plea in the case; his attorney did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article.
According to a 13-page affidavit filed on April 4 by federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Special Agent Molly E. Reale, Synchronoss — a cloud-storage service provider that contracts with Verizon Wireless — submitted eight CyberTipline reports between January and March 2025.
Those eight reports documented “apparent child exploitation material” uploaded to a Synchronoss account associated with the officer’s Verizon Wireless phone number as well as his Gmail address.
The eight CyberTipline reports contained 43 video files and five image files of suspected child pornography. One video described by the affidavit appears to show an adult woman performing oral sex on an infant’s vagina. Another video appears to show an adult male’s penis ejaculating on a 3‑to‑5 year old’s vagina. Still another appears to show a 4‑to‑7 year old performing oral sex on an adult male’s penis.
“Based on my training and experience and that of my law enforcement colleagues,” Reale wrote, “I know that some of the 43 videos in the CyberTipline reports are from ‘known series’ of child pornography, that is, these videos depict a minor who has previously been identified by NCMEC,” or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Reale added that the CyberTipline reports also provided IP addresses connected to the officer’s Verizon cloud account at the time the files were uploaded, and that that IP address is registered to an individual with an address in Hamden. Two of the uploads, meanwhile, were associated with an IP address belonging to Yale University.
In response to a search warrant served on Synchronoss, on April 1, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) task force officer received and reviewed 2 image files and 55 video files that had been uploaded to the officer’s Verizon cloud account. Those files also were of “suspected child sexual abuse material,” and were in addition to the files previously reported in the CyberTipline reports.
“The image and video files depicted mostly female children who appeared to be between the ages of 1 and 14 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct including vaginal sex, oral sex, anal sex, and masturbation,” Reale wrote.
On that same Synchronoss account, the task force officer found other image and video files showing the officer and associated with the officer, including family photos, a motor vehicle tax bill, screenshots of the officer’s work schedule, and a photo of the officer’s work identification confirming he is employed by Yale.