MAPLEWOOD, Mo. — A Maplewood police officer was charged with possessing hundreds of images of child pornography, according to court documents.
Officer Cory Younger, 45, of St. Louis was charged Tuesday with one count of possession of child pornography, a Class B felony. Charging documents allege Younger knowingly possessed more than 700 images of minors engaging in various sexual acts on his cell phone cloud account between July 1 and Oct. 31, 2022.
The criminal investigation came after the St. Louis County Police Department received a tip from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the images on Younger's account.
Charging documents say Younger "is a danger to the community" due to the amount of child pornography he possessed and due to his position as a police officer.
Maplewood Police Chief Matthew Nighbor said the department immediately suspended Younger without pay, in accordance with state and local laws, after learning about the criminal investigation.
Nighbor shared a statement on behalf of the police department regarding the child pornography charge against Younger. It reads, in part:
"The Maplewood Police Department holds our officers to the highest standards of ethics and integrity and believes that all members of the Department must abide by the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics in both our professional and personal lives. We take these allegations very seriously.
"The St. Louis County Police Department is conducting this criminal investigation. Our agency is fully cooperating with the St. Louis County Police Department and Prosecuting Attorney’s Office."
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