Deputy charged with 8 counts of child pornography

MILTON — Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson stepped up to the microphone at today's press conference flanked by State Attorney Bill Eddins and Chris Williams, Florida Department of Law Enforcement assistant agent in charge of the Pensacola field office .

"There's no easy way to put it," Johnson said. "I'll tell you this much, you know, less than 1 percent of cops in America tarnish their badge, and that's what we are here to talk about."

With that, the sheriff announced that Sgt. Jeffrey Perkins, working District 2 in Navarre, was arrested Dec. 14. He was charged with one misdemeanor count of reckless display of a firearm, one felony count of aggravated assault domestic violence, and eight felony counts of child pornography.

Perkins started working for the Sheriff's Office in 2010, and he was certified in 2009. This was his first and only law enforcement job and had no disciplinary record with the Sheriff's Office, according to Johnson.

Perkins was immediately placed on administrative leave and put in protective custody on Friday. During the press conference, Johnson said Perkins was being terminated and was no longer a deputy.

Williams did not go into specifics because the aggravated assault charge was still an active investigation. Williams also declined to give out any personal information on Perkins. He did give a time line for Perkins' arrest.

Williams said they received the complaint on Dec. 12, and opened the investigation the following day. Perkins was taken into custody on Dec. 14, for the weapons and assault charges.

According to Williams, the department obtained a search warrant for Perkins's cell phone and took custody of the phone on Dec. 17. That is when investigators found the child pornography on his phone.

Today, Perkins was charged with the eight counts of child pornography.

Eddins said Perkins has no bond for the aggravated assault or the weapons charges, but the eight child pornography charges each have a $5,000 bond for a total of a $40,000 bond. Eddins said his office would pursue the maximum prison time for each charge.

Reckless display of a weapon carries a one-year max prison time, the aggravated assault charges have a five-year max prison sentence and the child pornography charges have a five-year max sentence each.

Eddins went on to praise the FDLE for the investigative work on the case. In addition, he said this incident was in no way indicative of how the Sheriff's Office performs its duties.

Johnson said the FDLE took the lead role in the investigation to avoid any questions about how the case was investigated.

"I felt it was important that as soon as it came to a close to get in front of the cameras and tell the citizens of Santa Rosa County law enforcement here is going to go on as usual," he said. 

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Deputy charged with 8 counts of child pornography