Wallingford Man Arrested On Child Pornography, Risk Of Injury Charges

WALLINGFORD, CT — A Wallingford man is accused of possessing child pornography and trying to pay for a sexual encounter with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl, according to police.

Joseph Anthony Bird, 27, was recently arrested following an investigation by Wallingford police and the FBI New Haven Child Exploitation Task Force.

Beginning in February, an undercover police officer was using an online chat application and befriended a user that was identified as Bird, according to Sgt. Stephen Jaques.

Jaques said that over the course of their conversation, Bird steered the conversation toward “becoming sexually explicit in nature.”

Bird mentioned he wanted to have sex with the 14-year-old girl the undercover officer was portraying to be, according to Jaques.

Jaques said Bird and the online undercover officer discussed a price for the encounter with the 14-year-old girl and a meeting location.

Bird and the online undercover officer agreed to meet on March 10 in New Haven, according to Jaques.

Bird didn’t arrive at the location, but Jaques said he continued to communicate with the online undercover officer trying to buy an encounter with the 14-year-old girl.

Authorities prepared an arrest warrant for Bird and a search warrant for his cell phone. The arrest warrant was executed on May 1 and his phone was seized, according to Jaques.

Jaques said a preliminary forensic examination of his cell phone was conducted as a part of the investigation.

Bird was arrested May 1 on a charge of criminal attempt to commit risk of injury to a minor. He was released after posting a $100,000 bond.

Bird was arrested again on July 10 on a charge of first-degree possession of child pornography. He was released after posting a $500,000 bond with a court date of Aug. 2, according to state judicial records.