VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach firefighter has been arrested and charged with child pornography offenses.
Douglas France was charged with one count of possessing child pornography and two counts of distributing it. His criminal complaint alleges those crimes happened between November 2021 and his arrest late this month.
He was booked into the Western Tidewater Regional Jail on Thursday.
An affidavit about the case alleges France uploaded well over 100 files of child pornography to a Kik instant messaging account. Ninety-eight of them were uploaded between Nov. 23 and Dec. 16 of last year, and almost 30 were uploaded in mid-February, 2022.
The court document says some of the victims in these videos appeared to be as young as four years old.
A spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Police Department said France's arrest was a result of a Homeland Security Investigation that police helped with.
Virginia Beach city leaders said France is still employed with the city, but could not say whether or not he is on leave due to city personnel policies.
“When someone is being investigated and is also employed with the city, it’s always an issue of concern for our organization," said city spokeswoman Tiffany Russell.
13News Now reached out to see if France would speak with us from jail, but he declined.
France did have his initial appearance in court already. He asked for a court-appointed lawyer. His next hearing, which will go over his detention, is set for Oct. 25.