ARLINGTON, MASS. (WHDH) - An Arlington pediatric nurse was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of possession of child pornography, officials say.
Peter Sahagian, 61, was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on one count of possession of child pornography in connection with allegations that he was in possession of a thumb drive that contained multiple images of child pornography, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Arlington Acting Chief of Police Julie Flaherty.
Officials say that on May 16, Arlington Police and a representative from the FBI’s Human Trafficking-Child Exploitation Task Force, acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, visited Sahagian’s home to investigate an allegation that Sahagian had downloaded an image of child pornography using the search engine Bing.
During the subsequent investigation, authorities examined a thumb drive, allegedly belonging to Sahagian, that contained multiple pornographic images of minor females.
Investigators also learned that Sahagian is a licensed practical nurse at Cambridge Hospital where he works in the pediatric unit.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the images in Sahagian’s possession were downloaded from the Internet on his home computer and does not indicate that images contained on the flash drive are of patients, officials say.
Cambridge Health Alliance released a statement Thursday night that read: “We treat all matters of patient and staff safety very seriously. We are fully cooperating with local law enforcement authorities, who have informed us there is no indication the alleged criminal activity was work-related or involved any patients from the practice. We have launched our own comprehensive review of this case and are doing everything we can to ensure the safety and privacy of our patients and staff. Additionally, we are in the process of reaching out to patient families.”
Sahagian was arrested without incident on May 22.
He was released on personal recognizance with conditions to stay away from and have no contact with children under 18 and not to use the Internet.
Sahagian returns to court July 24.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)