VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach firefighter accused of possessing and distributing child pornography will go before a grand jury.
Douglas France appeared before a federal judge for his preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. Marshals arrested him on October 20 and charged him with one count of possessing child pornography and two counts of distributing it.
While France waits for his next court dates and a possible trial, the U.S. attorney withdrew a motion to keep him in jail, in the meantime.
An affidavit filed for this case said that in November and December of last year, a social media account connected to France uploaded 98 suspected files of sexual abuse material involving children. Investigators said France’s account allegedly uploaded more child pornography in February of this year.
Court documents said investigators found videos in those files showing adults sexually abusing children, some as young as about four years old. They said France sent those files to other users on the social media app called "Kik."
RELATED: Homeland Security investigation leads to arrest of Virginia Beach firefighter on child porn charges
At the hearing on Tuesday, the judge said the Commonwealth's evidence was strong enough for the case to go to a grand jury.
Grand juries in Virginia don't decide if a defendant is guilty or innocent; they just decide if the defendant should stand trial.
France’s defense attorney said when his client gets released on bond, he has to stay at his home in Virginia Beach. But before that can happen, he said France’s home can’t have an internet connection, he must tell his employer of his charges, and GPS location monitoring must get set up.
The U.S. attorney and France’s defense lawyer said they couldn’t comment on the case.
A few of France’s family members attended Tuesday's hearing.
Right now, there is no set date yet for this case to go before a grand jury. The U.S. attorney said that must happen within the next 30 days.
As of Tuesday, a Virginia Beach spokeswoman said France is still employed with the city.