Miami Firefighter Arrested on Child Porn Charges: Officials

A Miami firefighter has been arrested on child porn charges, officials said.

A Miami firefighter has been arrested on child porn charges.

Firefighter/paramedic Alexander Rousseau, 30, appeared in federal court Monday on charges of possession and receipt of child pornography.

A federal court complaint said the child pornography files were first discovered by investigators last December. Investigators found the files were being downloaded from an IP address registered to "Miami Fire Station 6" at 701 Northwest 36th Street.

A search warrant conducted Sunday night at the fire station led investigators to Rousseau, according to the complaint. Investigators found Rousseau's wallet by the bedside table next to the bed on which the suspected laptop was sitting, the complaint said.

Investigators said they found approximately 220 files believed to be child pornography on a shared folder on that laptop.

During questioning, Rousseau waved his Miranda rights and said he admitted to using a laptop in one of the sleeping rooms, installing and using the file sharing program and seeing videos containing child pornography through his downloads, the complaint said. Rousseau did not admit to searching for the videos, but he did admit to downloading and viewing some of them, according to the complaint.

A defense attorney hired by the firefighters union arrived during questioning to represent Rousseau, the complaint said. Calls made to the union by NBC 6 were not immediately returned.

The Miami Fire department released the following statement Monday afternoon:

"The City of Miami Department of Fire-Rescue has been made aware of an ongoing investigation and subsequent arrest involving one of our employees. Throughout this process our law enforcement counterparts have exhibited the highest degree of professionalism and integrity. The City of Miami Department of Fire-Rescue will continue to support investigative efforts. As with all open and active investigations we are unable to provide further information at this time. We remain focused on our primary mission of delivering the highest level of service to our citizens."

In a separate statement, the department said: "The Miami Fire Department takes any allegation against any member of our Department seriously and will continue to work closely with Law Enforcement in their investigation."

Officials said the FBI would lead the investigation in the case.

NBC 6 tried to contact Rousseau's family at his Southwest Miami-Dade home, but family members declined to comment.

Stay with NBC6.com for updates on this developing story.

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