Former Town of Bedford police officer to serve 5 years in prison on child pornography charge

A former lieutenant with the Town of Bedford Police Department was found guilty Tuesday of distribution of child pornography.

As part of a plea agreement, Brian McAlexander pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and was sentenced to serve five years in prison. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped five other charges against McAlexander.

McAlexander's crimes were discovered as part of an undercover investigation, according to a statement put out Tuesday by the Virginia Attorney General's office. An officer discovered McAlexander was making copies of child pornography available to other people on the Internet.

Officers with the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force got a warrant and searched McAlexander's home. They found six images and videos of child pornography on McAlexander's computer, according to the Attorney General's news release. Children depicted in the images McAlexander possessed were said to be "prepubescent.

McAlexander resigned from the Bedford Police Department when the investigation got underway last year. Bedford Police Chief Todd Foreman said his department has cooperated fully with the investigation and McAlexander's prosecution.

"We need to make sure that everybody understands that we hold people accountable for their actions while they are working and while they are off duty," Foreman told WDBJ7, following Tuesday's court hearing.

Since McAlexander was a longtime member of law enforcement and his work could be viewed as closely associated with the Commonwealth Attorney's office in Bedford, his case was prosecuted by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring's office.

McAlexander will have to pay $200 in restitution. He has to report to prison on Sept. 8 at 2 p.m.

McAlexander was arrested in February. He resigned from the Bedford Police Department in April 2015.

If the case had gone to trial and McAlexander was convicted by a jury, he faced a maximum sentence of 105 years in prison.