A Dallas Fire and Rescue employee has been put on administrative leave after a tip to police led to his arrest for allegations of child pornography possession.
Court documents show that Jesse McFall, a driver engineer for Dallas Fire and Rescue (DFR), was arrested Tuesday after an electronic service provider reported to the Dallas Police Department (DPD) that an account associated with McFall’s phone number had uploaded child pornography.
Investigators claim the electronic account showed multiple files of child pornography. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assisted the Dallas Police Department in the investigation of the account.
The Dallas Firefighter Association issued a statement that read, in part, “This is not reflective of the members of this department and the fine work Dallas Firefighters do every day to protect this community.”
McFall bonded out Wednesday, according to records obtained by WFAA. A DFR representative told the station that McFall has been with the fire department since 2011 and will remain on leave until the investigation is over.
This incident comes shortly after a 31-year-old teacher in Dallas was arrested earlier this month for allegedly possessing child pornography.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Dallas Police Department has set up a special Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) to investigate cases of alleged child pornography.
Senior Corporal Brian E. Martinez, a DPD spokesperson, said that ICAC investigated more than 22,000 cyber-tips from the National for Missing and Exploited Children in 2022.
“Additionally, the task force regularly conducts proactive investigations into the possession, distribution, and production of child sexual abuse material and other forms of exploitation of children online,” Martinez said.
The City of Dallas’ Open Data Crime Analytics Dashboard includes child pornography crimes under the category of “Pornography/Obscene Material.” The dashboard shows that have been four reported crimes so far in that category in 2023.