PORTLAND, Maine — A Brunswick police officer was arrested Tuesday and charged with two federal counts of attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor.
Garrett G. Brosnan, 25, of Bath, faces up to 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine if convicted on either of the two charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff said Wednesday.
In an affidavit filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Special Agent Douglas M. McConnell of Homeland Security Investigations wrote that the investigation of Brosnan began when the parents of a 13-year-old girl in Flagstaff, Arizona, reported on May 9 that in October 2015, their daughter had a five-day online conversation that was sexual in nature with a man who told her he was 19 years old.
In May, an agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations allegedly posed online as a 13-year-old girl and engaged in a conversation with a man allegedly identified as Brosnan, who sent the the agent nude photos and requested similar photos from the agent, according to the affidavit.
Brosnan was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.
Brunswick Police Chief Richard Rizzo said early Wednesday afternoon that Brosnan has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation. Rizzo said Brosnan has been a Brunswick officer since he attended the police academy three years ago.
“The allegations, if true, are extremely concerning, disappointing, and are not in accordance with the high moral standards that I expect of my officers,” Rizzo said in a statement.