Children’s pastor, decorated detective, commits suicide after child porn found on church computer
A Florida police detective and children's minister committed suicide after being investigated for having child pornography.
Detective Vernon Allan Richardson, a beloved children’s minister and award-winning veteran officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, known for his work in helping to locate missing children, killed himself Tuesday as authorities investigated him for possession of child pornography, some of which was found on his church computer.
Pastor Ricky Baldwin of Riverstone Community Church in Jacksonville, told CBS 47 that he didn’t know Richardson, 56, was under investigation for child pornography until his suicide. Richardson had been with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for 17 years and served as Riverstone’s children’s pastor for eight years.
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“Never in a million years would you ever thought that was possible. That’s why it’s so hard to believe now,” Baldwin said.
“I don’t know what all is going to come out, or what is yet to come out. I don’t know any of that. But we loved him and we love his family and plan to stick by his family,” Baldwin added.
A report in The Florida Times-Union said Richardson was found dead shortly before noon in some woods off Tynes Boulevard near Pine Ridge Parkway on Tuesday from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office reportedly began investigating Richardson in December after receiving a tip about him possessing child porn. Police records said the children’s pastor was questioned on Feb. 1 after an image showing two naked boys ages 12 to 14 committing a sexual act had been uploaded to a computer, the Times-Union said.
Investigators then went to Richardson’s home and served him with a search warrant. He “denied any and all allegations” but confirmed watching pornography on his cellphone, police records note.
“When asked what he looks up, he stated ‘sex with wives,’” the documents said. “After the interview was concluded, the defendant spontaneously uttered, ‘If I was going to watch child pornography, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to upload it or download it.’”
The pastor’s computer was seized and two images classified as child pornography were found, police said. One was of a nude boy 7 to 9, the other of a nude girl about the same age.
Richardson was found dead before authorities were able to arrest him.
The child pornography was reportedly found on Richardson's church computer just days before he killed himself. Richardson worked for JSO as a detective since 1999, and was a burglary detective at the time of his death.
First Coast News reported that Richardson had been a detective with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office since 1999 and was a burglary detective at the time of his death.
The late pastor was also the recipient of the "Local Law Enforcement Officer of the Year" award for his work and dedication in locating missing children.
“Detective Richardson was recognized for his consistent efforts and dedication to locate missing children. Detective Richardson worked 360 missing person cases over 12 months with a 98 percent clearance rate. He helped develop an incident command protocol for missing, abducted and endangered persons that is operational in Duval County,” the award said.
Richardson had been married for more than 30 years and his son is an officer with the JSO.
