Ex-Cop Nabbed For Child Porn, Illicit Police Database Searches: Delco DA

CHESTER, PA — A decade after facing no charges for sending sexual messages to an underage girl, authorities say a former Chester police officer possessed child pornography and repeatedly misused a police database to search for children, ex-girlfriends and other public employees.

Leon Paparo's charges, filed Monday, include over a dozen counts involving sexual abuse of minors and 77 counts of unlawful computer use.

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The investigation began in April, when Chester's coordinator for JNET — a law-enforcement database — conducted a routine audit. This revealed several suspicious searches under Paparo's account that didn't involve any police incident, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

At the time, Paparo was the Chester Police Department's records custodian. His searches included ex-girlfriends, relatives, Chester City employees, court staff, and employees from the DA's Office, authorities said.

During the investigation, Delaware County detectives reviewed an incident report from State Police. In 2015, Paparo was investigated for inappropriate contact with a minor, according to an affidavit of probable cause for the recent charges.

The report says Paparo approached a 15-year-old girl and asked if she'd be willing to do pony rides for his daughter. After exchanging phone numbers, Paparo sent inappropriate texts to the girl — even after learning her age — officials said.

During these conversations, Paparo asked the minor if she ever "sexts" and talked about her having to be careful because she's only 15, authorities said. State Police reviewed the conduct for grooming behavior with prosecutors, but no charges were filed, according to the affidavit.

Seven years later, Paparo searched a law-enforcement database for photos of the girl and her mother, authorities said.

Paparo gave his phone and passcode to detectives on Aug. 7, when they executed a search warrant at the Chester Police Department. Investigators say they found sexual photos of women and images of naked minors. Paparo ran the children's photos through the law-enforcement database to verify their ages and addresses, authorities said.

Paparo, 45, of Springfield, was charged with:

• 77 counts of unlawful computer use (third-degree felony)
• seven counts of disseminating child sexual abuse material (second-degree felony)
• seven counts of child sexual abuse material (third-degree felony)
• seven counts of unlawful computer use for sexual abuse of children (second-degree felony)
• seven counts of misdemeanor invasion of privacy

Paparo failed to post bail, which was set Tuesday at 10 percent of $500,000. He is jailed at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, awaiting a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 5.

Paparo didn't have a listed attorney who could comment on his behalf on Tuesday.

The charges were first reported by the Chester City Help, Incident and Resource Page, a digital news page covering Chester.