Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Possession of Sadistic Images

DALLAS, TX -- According to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, a former police officer pleaded guilty to possessing sexually explicit images of young girls.

According to court documents, the investigation into 35-year-old Daniel Lee Collins began when Google detected sexually explicit images that were uploaded to his Google account. The account was using the City of Dallas's internet network.

On May 13, Google flagged an image that was uploaded to an account tagged "Dan Collins" and two more on June 29 to an account tagged "John Smith." The images were reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and a cyber tip was filed with Dallas PD.

The Dallas IT department would subsequently trace the IP addresses that used the City of Dallas internet network. They also determined that the Google accounts were accessed from Collin's home.

According to the plea documents, Collins, who was a senior corporal with Dallas PD, admitted to accessing child pornography using his Google email account.

He also admitted that he knew the images depicted minors, including a nude prepubescent female, involved in "sadistic or masochistic conduct.” 

Collins admitted he knowingly distributed files that showed sexually explicit images of children.

Collins officially resigned from the Dallas Police Department earlier this week and can face up to 20 years in prison. He will be sentenced on January 8, 2021.