Former Dallas police officer pleads guilty to possession of ‘sadistic’ child porn

 A former Dallas police officer pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of possessing “sadistic” child pornography, according to a plea agreement.

Daniel Lee Collins, 35, signed a plea agreement Friday for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox announced in a statement. Collins, who will be sentenced Jan. 8, faces up to 20 years in federal prison, The Dallas Morning News reported. Collins resigned from the Dallas Police Department earlier this week, the newspaper reported.

Collins also could be fined up to $250,000, KXAS reported.

Collins joined the Dallas Police Department in 2007 and was a senior corporal assigned to the auto theft unit when he was arrested, the Morning News reported.

According to court documents, Collins accessed and uploaded sexually explicit images of underage girls to several Google accounts between May 13 and July 23. The images “portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depiction of violence.”

According to a release in late July, Collins was originally charged with one count of transportation of child pornography after his arrest.

Collins’ attorneys said he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in July to avoid a “protracted fight.”

According to Friday’s news release, Collins admitted he knew the images showed actual minors, including a “nude prepubescent female,” and portrayed “sadistic or masochistic conduct.” Collins also admitted that on one occasion, he knowingly sent a file containing sexually explicit images of a child.

Google flagged the images -- one was uploaded May 13 to an account tagged “Dan Collins” and two more uploaded June 29 to an account tagged “John Smith” --  to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That organization filed a Cyber Tipline report with the Dallas Police Department.

A Dallas IT specialist traced the IP addresses used for the uploads to the City of Dallas internet network, according to the news release. Investigators determined the same Google accounts were also accessed from Collins’ home in Tarrant County, the Morning News reported.

“We look forward to presenting our case and arguments to Judge Reed O’Connor,” Collins’ attorneys, Scott Palmer and Rebekah Perlstein, said in a written statement. “We have appeared before Judge O’Connor on difficult sentencing matters and Judge O’Connor lived up to his reputation as a thoughtful and deliberate jurist.”

Before his resignation, Collins was placed on administrative leave, WFAA reported.

Cox Media Group