Texas officer fired after deleting child porn from hospital patient's laptop: police

Sergeant Rodsdricke Martin was fired by the Fort Worth, Texas police department on Tuesday following a months-long investigation into allegations he tampered with evidence.

The 16-year veteran of the force is accused of deleting "lewd photos" of children from a patient's laptop while working as a security guard at a local hospital.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the alleged event took place in January at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest. An elderly patient asked staff to help him with the WiFi, and upon discovering the aforementioned photos, a technician brought the laptop to security.

Instead of handing the computer in as evidence, Martin deleted the photos. He was arrested on March 29, after being placed on restricted duty and having his police powers stripped. An unpaid suspension was eventually handed down.

"After a thorough review of the administrative investigation, Sergeant Martin’s chain of command determined that Martin violated multiple FWPD policies.

As the Star-Telegram reports, the FWPD said in a statement on Tuesday that Martin "violated multiple FWPD policies," and that Chief Noake subsequently "terminated Sergeant Martin’s employment with the department."

Martin's lawyer Robert Huseman urged the public not to "rush to judgement," citing the fact that the now former officer had "served this community for more than a decade and has devoted his life to helping others." Huseman and his team are conducting their own independent investigation into the incident.

In an interview with WFAA in February, a local pastor and friend of Martin said people should "wait and see both sides of the story," but acknowledged that regardless, "right is right, and wrong is wrong."

Martin is expected to make his next court appearance on July 29. No information has been revealed regarding whether the elderly man will face charges as a result of the photos found on his laptop.