A Fort Lauderdale Firefighter has been arrested on child pornography charges, officials said.
Patrick Joseph Ryan, 43, was arrested by Sunrise Police on 11 counts including possession of obscene material and obscene communication, an arrest report said.
The arrest follows an investigation by the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and had been started by a sheriff's office last year.
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The investigation began after officers discovered child sex abuse materials were being distributed through an internet messenger, the report said.
Investigators said an email account and IP address belonging to Ryan had shared some of the material, the report said.
Ryan was arrested Thursday and booked into the Broward Jail, where he remained held on $1.1 million bond, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
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Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue released a statement late Thursday on the arrest.
"Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue was notified early Thursday morning, that an employee had been arrested by Sunrise Police. The employee was not on duty at the time of the arrest and was immediately placed on administrative leave. Further disciplinary action from our agency will be pending the outcome of the criminal investigation," the statement read. "It is important to know that the accused actions of this single employee in no way represents the values or integrity of the more than 400 men and women of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue."
