A Bucks County Department of Corrections officer was taken into custody following allegations of involvement in child pornography, authorities confirmed.
Christos Rallis, 51, of Warrington Township, was placed under investigation after a Cybertip flagged his social media activity, according to authorities.
The tip was submitted in March to Warrington Township police and Bucks County detectives by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It indicated that a user on Kik Messenger had disseminated images consistent with suspected child sexual abuse, police said.
The account was traced back to Rallis after an investigation by local law enforcement, police said.
Rallis surrendered to Warrington Township police and Bucks County detectives last week and was preliminarily arraigned before District Judge Stacy Wertman on charges of child pornography, disseminating photo or film of child sex acts, and conspiracy to commit criminal use of a communication facility.
Due to his job, Rallis was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility and later released on 10 percent of $250,000 bail through a bondsman.
James O’Malley, a spokesperson for the Bucks County government, confirmed that Rallis, who started working for the county in February, was suspended from his correctional officer duties in late May as the investigation progressed.
Before his employment with the Bucks County Department of Corrections, Rallis had a career in law enforcement in California. Public records and a LinkedIn account indicated he served as an officer in San Francisco. The LinkedIn profile has since been removed and outlined previous law enforcement experience.
The investigation involved multiple outside agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Bensalem Township, Falls Township, Hilltown Township, Lower Makefield Township, Middletown Township, and Warwick Township police departments.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
