A Seymour man is due in court after being charged with first-degree possession of child pornography.
The charge is one of three felonies pending against Jesse Rallis, 33.
Rallis is on administrative leave from the Seymour Ambulance Association, where he volunteered.
“Based on his arrest he was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this case. That means he cannot go out on ambulance calls, he can’t participate in any Seymour Ambulance Association functions or be on our premises at all,” said Seymour ambulance Chief Scott Andrews.
Rallis was arrested by Seymour police May 14 for a crime allegedly committed on June 4, 2014, according to information from the Judicial Branch website.
Seymour Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Satkowski said his department received information in January from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri regarding “allegations involving Mr. Rallis.”
Rallis had allegedly been talking to an underage teen online, through social media specifically. The teen lives in Missouri, which prompted the sheriff’s office probe.
Law enforcement in Missouri contacted Seymour police once they figured out where Rallis lived.
The correspondence began last summer, police said.
“Through our investigation, we received a search and seizure warrant for Mr. Rallis’ house, at which time several items were seized, including electronic equipment,” Satkowski said.
Police sent the electronic equipment to the state’s forensic lab to be analyzed.
Rallis’ devices allegedly contained “several images of potential child pornography,” Satkowski said.
Rallis is also charged with enticing a minor by computer, and with risk of injury to a child. He is being represented by a public defender, according to the judicial branch website.
The devices were presumably computers or cell phones, based on the charges.
The warrant charging Rallis is sealed “until further order of the court,” according to a clerk at Superior Court in Milford.
Rallis is free on $50,000 bond pending a July 14 court date.
Rallis volunteered with the ambulance association for about 14 years. Last year he took a new full-time job that cut down on his involvement and, in January, he was injured and hasn’t been responding to calls, Andrews said.
Rallis is a past member of the association’s board of directors.
Rallis was one of several emergency responders honored in 2014 for saving a man after he fell in his Seymour home.
