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Ex-Largo Officer Receives 5 Years In Child Porn Case

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2007

TAMPA - A former Largo police officer who told authorities he has an addiction to child pornography has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Jamie Bogdan, 33, of Fort Myers Beach, resigned from his post Oct. 17, the day investigators from the FBI's Innocent Images task force visited him and asked about images of child pornography he had downloaded from the Internet. Bogdan had been with the police department 2½ years.

His attorney, Kevin Beck, said Bogdan was examined by a psychosexual evaluation expert, who determined he is not a pedophile.

'He never had sex with a minor, never used a computer to reach out to children,' Beck said. 'He's otherwise normal.

'There was an addiction to pornography that simply escalated into different forms, in this instance of inappropriate illegal, pornography.'

According to court papers, Bogdan told FBI task force agent Philip Dubord he began downloading child pornography in February 2006. He said he deleted most of the images but still had two videos on his computer, one showing images of a child younger than 10.

'He stated he needs mental health help and would never harm a child,' according to a summary of the offense filed with the court by the U.S. Attorney's Office at the time of Bogdan's guilty plea in June.

According to the summary, when other Largo officers visited Bogdan after his resignation, he told them he had an addiction and was relieved he had been caught.

The charge to which Bogdan pleaded guilty carries a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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