FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - New disturbing details have surfaced in the case against a Fort Lauderdale Police officer who, investigators said, engaged in inappropriate online chats with minors and sent explicit photos to an undercover officer he thought was a teenage girl while he was on duty.
FLPD Officer Louis Walsh, a five-year veteran of the force, had nothing to say as he walked out of the Broward Jail on Friday after having spent two nights behind bars.
Investigators said the 29-year-old “sexted” with the undercover officer while under the impression he was communicating with a 15-year-old girl.
He faces several charges, including transmission of harmful material to a minor.
According to the arrest documents, Walsh logged on to a chat room and began communicating with the undercover officer who was posing as the teen.
An arrest report reads in part, “The suspect stated, ‘Listen, I’m (going) to be naughty and all, but I want to make sure you’re (real) … snap me with a peace sign smiling, and I’ll open up, literally and figuratively.”
The document further states, “As the conversation continued, the suspect identified that he was currently at work.”
The document states Walsh exposed himself more than once in pictures. In one picture, he allegedly exposed himself “through a pair of blue uniform pants … The bottom portion of an Axon body camera was visible which contained a printed label on the bottom which read ‘2807.’ (He indicated) that he was currently parked in a secluded area.”
Investigators said all of this indicating the suspect was on the job, in uniform.
The arrest report states Walsh even gave the would-be victim his location, and detectives were able to track him from there.
Walsh also served as a wrestling coach at Cardinal Gibbons High School and worked a security detail at Saint Anthony’s Catholic School.
A spokesperson for FLPD issued a statement on Thursday that reads in part, “The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is shocked and disappointed to learn of the arrest of one of our officers … The details surrounding these allegations are very difficult to hear and do not reflect the character and professionalism expected of the men and women of this agency.”
Police continue to investigate.
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