Lafayette police officers arrested 58-year-old Richard Chew of Lafayette on suspicion of possessing child pornography Wednesday, according to a release issued by the sheriff’s office.
Chew, a captain with the Oakland Fire Department, was taken into custody Wednesday night and charged with two counts of child pornography possession after searches of his Lafayette home and fire house found illegal materials on his computers, authorities said.
An arrest warrant had been issued for Chew, a spokesman for the sheriff related, stemming from an investigation into Chew’s alleged activities which started on August 19, 2017.
The Contra Costa Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force – a unit comprised of investigators from the Office of the Sheriff, District Attorney’s Office, and Lafayette and Concord Police Departments – spearheaded the investigation.
Their work led to service of a search warrant at Chew’s Lafayette home as well as at his fire station.
Chew was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility for possession of child pornography and is currently being held in lieu of $200,000 bail. The DA’s Office has already filed formal charges against him, according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with any information about this case can contact Deputy District Attorney Jordan Sanders at (925) 957-8602.
Life in prison without parole.
@Danielle – Whoa. Still have that innocent until proven guilty thing but, yeah, this sort of thing sure riles people up – understandably.
Terrible news. I guess it will all come out in court. Terrible to hear.
Hard to believe and harder to understand.
Stay cynical, you won’t be as disappointed when this stuff happens.
Why do they always have to be from Lafayette?
Fortunately, we’re not held to the innocent until proven guilty standard on the internet 🙂 Based on the evidence, including the fact that he exchanged illicit pictures with an undercover officer (allegedly), I think it’s pretty safe to say: Life in prison without parole. If I were a judge/jury of course I would not jump to that conclusion. Or maybe he was just doing “research” for a book wink wink.
I guess there are worse crimes. Just not many worse crimes.
Wow. You have to wonder what is in someone’s mind.
So disheartening. And you have to wonder about how so many of these men turn out to be doctors or teachers or…. firemen. Awful.
In terms of punishment for these cases, I would draw a distinction between images of victims who are 7 versus 17. If the former, I agree on life without parole (or death penalty?). If the latter, then not so much. It’s a “malum in se” versus “malum prohibitum” kinda thing.