SEPTEMBER 2 UPDATE: A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Nathan Allen, Jr. with attempted production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and access with intent to view child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on the production charges, a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the receipt charges, and a maximum penalty of 20 years on the access with intent to view charge.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — A Kingsmill police officer who also formerly worked with the Hampton Police Division is accused of possessing child pornography.

Nathan Allen Jr. is charged with receiving images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct and possession of images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He was arrested Tuesday, August 3.

Allen, a resident of Virginia Beach, worked for the Kingsmill Police Department in Williamsburg as recently as July, as well as the Hampton Police Division from February 2020 to February 2021, documents state. The Kingsmill Police Department is a private force that serves the gated Kingsmill on the James community and Kingsmill Resort. Officers on the force are state-certified.

It’s unclear whether Allen still works for Kingsmill Police.

According to an affidavit filed in federal court, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent with the National Security and Child Exploitation Group investigated the case.

On April 7, an undercover investigator accessed the internet and connected to a BitTorrent network using a law enforcement client program that monitors child pornography trafficking on P2P networks.

The investigator zeroed in on a particular IP address that was associated with a torrent file that contained at least one file containing child pornography. The investigator downloaded 39 files from the torrent file that were made available by the IP address, which appeared to show child pornography.

One of those downloaded files was opened by the investigator and showed a girl between 10 and 12 years old exposing her genital area to a camera and engaging in sexual behavior.

Investigators obtained other data that showed the particular IP address was the “sole candidate” for each download, meaning each file was downloaded directly from that IP address.

At the same time, the investigator opened an investigation into the same IP address for a device associated with a second torrent file that had at least one file of child pornography.

The investigator also downloaded 43 files and eight partial files from that torrent file. Those files appeared to show child pornography. One of them appeared to show two nude prepubescent girls exposing themselves and kissing each other.

That IP address was also the sole candidate for each download.

Investigators obtained subscriber information for the IP address in question, which traced to Allen in Virginia Beach, documents state.

On April 29 and April 30, investigators performed similar downloads and also traced the IP address to Allen, documents state.

From June 1 to July 29, agents conducted physical surveillance at the home believed to be Allen’s in Virginia Beach. They saw a man matching Allen’s DMV records and Facebook profile leave and return to the home frequently. Virginia Beach police also assisted with surveillance.

Through the investigation, agents determined about eight children lived in the home, ranging from kindergarten to seventh grade.

On July 12, investigators saw Allen leave the residence wearing what appeared to be a police uniform. They followed him to the Kingsmill Police Department in the Williamsburg area. They then observed him wearing the full police uniform — including carrying a firearm — and driving a marked police vehicle.

On Aug. 3, agents executed a federal search warrant on Allen and found a Samsung cell phone. Agents found a video of a man raising the bedsheets of a girl and showing her buttocks, which were covered by underwear. Allen allegedly told agents he recorded that video.

In a post-Miranda interview, Allen first said he was exposed to the world of child exploitation after his cousin was molested when he was 13, documents said. He then said he started searching for child exploitative material after an encounter with a 12-year-old prostitute while working in Hampton (which was from February 2020 to February 2021). He said he looked and used Bing searches to find the material to see how easy it was to find because he wanted it stopped.

However, agents confronted him and said the information they had gathered fell outside of the timeframe he claimed he was looking.

He then changed his story and said he began looking before he worked in Hampton, after his cousin was molested by someone named Chester, documents state.

He also allegedly admitted to using his cell phone to download and view child pornography, and using the torrent software during the time he was under investigation.

His wife told investigators Allen allegedly had more child pornography on his laptop.