Windsor Man Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

West Hartford Police have charged a former resident, who now lives in Windsor, with possession of child pornography after evidence was recovered from a computer first seized in a 2009 voyeurism incident.

Corey MacDonald, 28, of 24 Victoria St., Windsor, was arrested by Simsbury Police and turned over to West Hartford Police on March 6. He was charged with one count of possession of child pornography.

According to Simsbury Police Capt. Boulter, Simsbury Police executed the warrant and made the arrest at Westminster School, where MacDonald was working for a private company that manages the boarding school's pool.

"He was compliant at the time of the arrest and there were no issues," Boulter told Patch.

According to West Hartford police, the child pornography was found on a computer originally seized from MacDonald after he was arrested in April 2009 and charged with voyeurism in connection with allegedly spying on a female roommate in a residence they shared on Maplewood Ave. in West Hartford.

Love what you see on Windsor Patch? "Like" us on Facebook for more Windsor news and exclusive updates!

"He was arrested in 2009 for voyeurism, for hiding a camera in the bathroom and taking video of his roommate on Maplewood Ave.," said West Hartford Police Lt. Frank Fallon. At the time, police seized two laptops from MacDonald.

"In the interview he eluded to the possibility of possession of child pornography," Fallon said, so police made a reference to that when they sent the laptops to the state crime lab for evidence collection.

Because the voyeurism case was adjudicated before the lab had a chance to examine the laptops, Fallon said, the evidence was returned to West Hartford police. MacDonald was found guilty on a lesser charge, Fallon said.

However, when the laptops were returned last summer, West Hartford police detectives resubmitted them to the lab immediately to have them examined for evidence of child pornography. The victim in the original voyeurism case was also concerned that images of her might also still be on the computers, Fallon said.

"It's a pretty unique scenario. Our true case was the voyeurism case, and it's normal procedure not to examine the evidence if the case has been adjudicated," said Fallon.

In early March, state police found 13 images of child pornography on MacDonald's computers, Fallon said. Det. Mark Puglielli prepared a warrant for MacDonald's arrest on the possession of child pornography charges, and that was executed on March 6.

At the time of his arrest MacDonald was employed by Aquatics for Living, a Simsbury company owned by Dave Rowland. MacDonald worked both as an aquatics manager and an instructor, but according to Rowland his role at Westminster involved pool management only.

According to Darlene Skeels, a spokesperson for Westminster, MacDonald did not work directly for the school and did not coach at the facility. "All of our coaches are faculty members," she said.

The other pool currently managed by Aquatics for Living is Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford, but it is not known whether or not MacDonald worked there. According to Rowland, MacDonald has worked for Aquatics for Living for 10 or 11 years. He told Patch that he "never saw any signs of this type of behavior."

"He was an extremely popular instructor," Rowland said.

At the time of his 2009 arrest, MacDonald also worked as an emergency medical technician for AMR, Fallon said. Other reports indicate that he worked more recently as an EMT in Vernon and Bloomfield, but that information could not be confirmed.

MacDonald was released on $5,000 surety bond and is due in court on Thursday.