A commercial airline pilot from Texas who was a target in a federal child porn probe was busted at JFK after flying into the US from Canada, sources said.
Thomas E. Perkins, 36, of Frisco, was busted at JFK on the evening of April 18, after he flew passengers aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Montreal, sources said.
Perkins, an employee of Republic Airlines, a “feeder” airline for certain Delta Airlines routes, was taken into custody at about 6 p.m., by a PAPD cop and an agent for Homeland Security who found six child porn photos on his Ipad.
The suspect claimed to have purchased the Ipad from a Texas pawn shop, but a source said investigators have concluded that Perkins received data on the device that was transmitted to him before he claims to have bought it, thus undercutting his apparent alibi.
The case arose when investigators for Homeland Security’s Child Exploitation Group, based in Dallas, tracked suspected child porn that was being transmitted to an IP address located in a home in nearby Richardson.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for the Richardson residence – that of Perkins’ father – and found nothing incriminating, but learned he’d been using the WiFi connection there, sources said.
Perkins was charged of illegal possession of a sexual performance of a child, according to a Queens criminal complaint.
He was arraigned on $50,000 bail and is next due in court on May 5.