On Wednesday, February 19, 2014, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Thomas E. Allen was arrested by CMPD detectives and charged with four counts of secretly using a photographic imaging device to view another’s body or undergarments. GS. 14-202 (E) and four counts of possessing photographic images in violation of the peeping statute GS.14-202(G)
The charges stem from an administrative and criminal investigation which began in October of 2013 and revealed that Allen photographed and possessed four images of juvenile females as they participated at various activities during two CMPD High School Academy events in 2011 and 2013. The investigation revealed that Allen took photos through the victims clothing during physical training that captured portions of their undergarments without their consent. Allen has been cited for termination. He was hired by the CMPD on March 27, 1996, and was last assigned to the Recruiting Division of the Police Training Academy.
The CMPD is working this case aggressively. Eleven full time detectives have been assigned to the case. They have reviewed several thousand photographs that Allen possessed on his home and work computers. Additionally, detectives have forensically processed those computers to determine whether any child pornography was present. The juvenile victims were fully clothed at the time they were photographed. To date, there has been no evidence of any child pornography on the computers examined.
Detectives are working to interview the approximately 700 people who participated in youth programs that Allen was directly associated with during his career. Detectives have attempted to contact more than 400 of those individuals and have formally interviewed nearly 180 to date to determine if any inappropriate contact occurred during his employment. There have been no reported allegations of inappropriate contact at this time. This is an active investigation and detectives still have several hundred additional individuals they will interview.
The CMPD is urging anyone in the public who may have additional information concerning these or any other incidents to call a devoted phone line that was established specifically for this case. They may speak to lead Detective Dunbar at 704.619.4931
