Bail set at $100,000 for cop facing child porn charges

A judge set bail at $100,000 Monday for a Metro officer facing child pornography charges, while his lawyers said the images found on an online storage account were never in his possession.

Lawyers for James Henry, a 12-year veteran of the department, called the 10 counts of possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography “legal fiction,” saying someone may have hacked into Henry’s Internet account.

“They can make no showing that he ever possessed the pornography,” defense attorney Robert Draskovich said. “It may be on some Google cloud somewhere in cyberspace, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he himself possessed it.”

Google notified authorities that someone had uploaded an image of child pornography in June, according to Henry’s arrest report. His account was closed, and the tip was forwarded to Metro on July 22.

Ten counts of possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography were filed against the 37-year-old after the Google tip and a three-month investigation, police said.

Draskovich argued Monday that the distribution charges should be dropped, saying there was no evidence Henry prepared, advertised or distributed images. He said authorities were “making it up” to support tougher charges.

“The state of Nevada has plenty of things to prosecute that are true crimes,” Draskovich told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman. “When they start manufacturing crimes, we take issue with that.”

Prosecutor Jim Sweetin referred to an “ongoing investigation” and said police were acquiring evidence from Internet providers and online companies to show what Henry did with the images.

Police said a search of Henry’s email account turned up several depictions of child pornography.

Henry’s lawyers said they’re still trying to figure out how the images were tracked to his personal Google account.

Metro detectives interviewed Henry at his substation near the Strip earlier this month. During the interview, a police report said, Henry admitted to uploading the images of boys and girls and called them “captivating and titillating.”

Sweetin called those comments “very concerning.”

His lawyers said that the comments were taken out of context and that he had been referring to pornography in general.

According to a police report, Henry admitted to uploading seven or eight images of child pornography to his online Google account.

But his attorneys said that statement also was misconstrued.

“Metro has actively misrepresented what he was saying,” Draskovich said.

Henry did not know why Google closed his account, said his other lawyer, Louis Schneider. Henry learned of the investigation when he was placed on paid administrative leave from Metro.

Investigators had tracked the Internet Protocol address linked to the image back to Henry’s home, according to the police report.

Police scoured Henry’s computers and cellphone but found no images stored on the devices, according to Schneider.

That is rare when it comes to child pornography cases, although it’s unlikely Google made a mistake, Las Vegas computer forensic investigator Adrian Leon Mare said.

Schneider believes someone could have learned the password to Henry’s online data storage and placed the images there. Malware could have made his storage vulnerable, Mare said.

“Typically a suspect has hundreds of these images, lots of video and has been doing it for a long time, and there’s a big trail,” Mare said.

With only 10 images in question, “there could be a reasonable explanation,” Mare added.

Deputy Chief Al Salinas promised more criminal charges against Henry, but he did not say how Henry had acquired or distributed the images of minors.

Henry is a patrol officer in Metro’s Convention Center Area Command, which encompasses the Strip.

He has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the case’s outcome.

Henry posted bail Monday and was released from jail. Zimmerman ordered that he have no contact with anyone younger than 18.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker