Former Darien Crossing Guard Accused Of Possessing Child Porn: PD

DARIEN, CT — A 66-year-old Darien man — and former part-time crossing guard in town — was arrested on a warrant by Darien police on Tuesday charging him with second-degree possession of child pornography, according to Capt. Jeremiah Marron Jr.

Daniel Poccia, of Hollow Tree Ridge Road, was accompanied by his Stamford-based criminal defense attorney, Mark Sherman, when he surrendered at police headquarters at about 1 p.m. He was booked, photographed and released after posting bond of $150,000 bail.

Darien police began an investigation that eventually led to Poccia being a suspect in late February when the department "received a Cyber-Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, indicating that images of suspected child pornography had been downloaded to an IP address located in Darien," according to Marron.

"Without delay, an investigation was initiated which included obtaining search warrants to obtain more detailed information about the location and ownership of the IP address," Marron said in a statement. "On March 3, 2020 an Ex Parte Order for disclosure of records was submitted to the Internet Service Provider for the IP address in question. On March 20, 2020 the Internet Service Provider indicated the 'basic subscriber' information belonged to Daniel P. Poccia of Hollow Tree Ridge Road Darien. It was then determined that Poccia was currently employed in a part-time capacity as a crossing guard for the Town of Darien."

Poccia was employed as a crossing guard from late August last year to March. when schools were closed due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

Marron said that Poccia "has no previous criminal history and was subjected to a pre-employment background check prior to being hired by the Town of Darien."

Following the discovery of Poccia's identity through his IP address, Darien police searched his home and seized "20 printed images containing visual depictions of child pornography," Marron said. Additionally, several electronic items also were seized from Poccia's home.

"Evidence seized from the residence was forensically examined and analyzed," Marron said. "This is an arduous process and is highly structured. It was determined that no additional items of evidentiary value related to child pornography were present other than the printed images seized during the execution of the search warrant."

Marron added that following the seizure, Poccia was fired from his crossing guard job.

"At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that Poccia had any inappropriate contact with any minors from Darien or any other area, nor is there any evidence that local minors are depicted in the images," Marron said. "No further details are being released pertaining to this investigation."

When reached by Patch, attorney Sherman declined to comment on specifics of the case, but pointed out his client has no criminal history.

Sherman added that the COVID-19 quarantine "has pushed the internet to its legal limits," at times, making the line between legal content and illegal dark web content difficult to distill.

"Sex crimes defense lawyers are seeing more Connecticut arrests arising from dark web searches that are not always the product of an intentional search for illegal pornography," Sherman told Patch. "Some dark web sites can transfer child pornography without the user's knowledge. We will address these accusations and respond at the appropriate time once the courts re-open."

Poccia is scheduled to appear in court on June 15.