Haverhill resident John Giarrusso III is due back in court next month on allegations of possession of child pornography and distribution of graphic sexual images to a minor.
Forty-eight-year-old Giarrusso, who had been working as a Seabrook, N.H., police officer, was arrested last month after the Haverhill Police Department received a tip Feb.11 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alleging misuse of the messaging and chat app Kik by Giarrusso. He was subsequently placed on administrative leave from his patrolman’s position.
He returns Tuesday, May 20, to Haverhill District Court. He is being represented by Haverhill criminal defense lawyer Daniel Hutchinson, according to the court clerk’s office. Hutchinson did not return a request for comment by deadline.
Giarrusso is alleged to have used the internet messaging app to discuss and share pornographic videos of children as young as six as they were being raped and assaulted, apparently by their parents and caregivers. To verify that he was who he said he was, he allegedly sent selfies that included his partially obscured police badge.
The detective assigned to the case wrote, “I know that individuals in chat rooms will often make requests to confirm that they are chatting with a real person.”
He allegedly invited pornographic images of infants being sexually abused telling those he was texting with that he had “no age” limit.
As recently as Jan. 6, he is alleged to have had a sexually explicit conversation with a Manchester, N.H., texter who said she was 14, asking her to text him nude images of her body.
He also is alleged to have shared sexually graphic and explicit materials to a texter who said she was in Montreal, Canada. In that conversation Giarrusso is alleged to have bragged that “girls in town” call him “Officer Sexy.”
According to the 19-page police report the investigation turned up 3,209 outgoing messages allegedly associated with Giarrusso’s Kik account.