Court Docs Detail Investigation of TPD Officer Found with Child Pornography

Court documents filed Tuesday allege that a Tuscaloosa Police Officer deliberately solicited and kept child pornography including material showing very young children.

As the Thread reported, TPD Patrol Officer Corey Nicholas Burcham was arrested on Monday and charged with 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material after investigators reportedly discovered illegal images on his cell phone.

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On Tuesday, court documents were filed saying the arrest resulted from an investigation that began in September 2024, when the operators of a dating and meetup app submitted a Cybertip to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children about a chat on their platform.

In the flagged chat, police say the suspect, now believed to be Corey Burcham, asked questions including "think an 11-year-old chubby girl can handle daddy?" and several others too explicit to print here in which he asked for pictures of young girls.

The Cybertip led to a subpoena to find out whose IP address was associated with the chat, which led the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force to Burcham's Northport home.

In Alabama, possession of any photo or video showing child pornography is a Class C felony and suspects are charged for possession of each individual file.

Investigators seized a cell phone from Burcham, and on it allegedly discovered 10 files depicting child pornography.  Three of those allegedly depicted victims police classified as "toddlers."

TPD said Burcham worked as a patrol officer from January 2019 until last week.

In a Monday press release announcing his arrest, TPD Chief Brent Blankley said Burcham will never again have the privilege of serving as a law enforcement officer.

“When we first learned of these allegations last week, we began the necessary procedures that will ensure he never works as a police officer again,” Tuscaloosa Police Chief Brent Blankley said in a release. “We have zero tolerance for actions that undermine the public trust and harm children. The individual involved no longer serves in any capacity with the department.”

Burcham remained in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Tuesday afternoon.