MSP Civilian Pilot Arrested on Child Porn Charges

David Eldredge (Courtesy: MSP)

EASTON, Md. – A civilian pilot in the Maryland State Police Aviation Command has been arrested on child pornography charges.

According to Maryland State Police, David Eldredge, 36, of Preston, is charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.

Eldredge has been employed as a civilian helicopter pilot in the MSP Aviation Command since March 2014.

He was arrested Tuesday morning at the Easton Section of the Aviation Command.

Eldredge is being held without bond at the Talbot County Detention Center.

Following his arrest, MSP said he was removed from flight status pending the results of an internal administrative investigation that was initiated immediately.

According to police, the investigation began last week when an MSP criminal investigator assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received information about child pornography being uploaded over the internet to a personal cloud storage account.

Further investigation determined the internet address being used was located at the MSP Aviation Command Easton Section.

Police say investigators determined the account was a non-Maryland State Police internet account.

The investigation determined the account had been used by Eldredge to download images of child pornography onto a tablet, according to police.

Police say search warrants were obtained and served Tuesday at both the MSP Aviation Command Easton Section and at Eldredge’s home.

Evidence obtained during those search warrants will be examined forensically as part of the ongoing investigation.

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