The Broward Sheriff's Office sergeant accused in a child pornography case was pronounced dead late Wednesday night of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
According to BSO, 43-year-old Sgt. Kreg Costa was transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where he died at 11:27 p.m.
Sunrise Police said they received a 911 from a man who said officers should respond to Sunset Strip in Sunrise.
When officers arrived, they found Costa with a self-inflicted gunshot wound outside the home. No one else was home at the time and no one was else was injured
Costa faced 29 charges including possessing or viewing a depiction of child sexual conduct, sexual assault, lewd or lascivious conduct, using a computer to lure a child and using or allowing a child to engage in sex.
He was taken into custody on June 9 following a two-month investigation by the BSO's public corruption unit, officials said.
The investigation began after staff at the Weston district, where Costa worked as a road patrol supervisor, noticed he was staying in his office during his night shift with the lights off and his uniform belt and gun belt removed, officials said.
When detectives looked at a computer usage report of Costa's work-issued laptop from January through March, they found he was viewing hardcore pornography including incest-related and bondage websites while he was at work, officials said.
Detectives monitored Costa's Internet activity and found he was engaging in sexually explicit exchanges with a 16-year-old California girl through email, Twitter and videos, officials said.
Costa instructed the teen to record herself while engaging in sex acts with herself, officials said. The teen told investigators she told Costa she was 15 years old when she first started communicating with him.
Costa was married with five children and had been with BSO since 1999.
