A North Branford police officer who has been absent from duty for nearly a year will face a judge on Jan. 8, after he was arrested in his hometown of Hamden and charged with first-degree possession of child pornography. Meanwhile, North Branford Police Department (NBPD) has initiated an internal affairs investigation, according to NBPD Acting Chief of Police James Lovelace.

On Dec. 31, 2018, Hamden police reported the arrest of the NBPD officer, Anthony DeLuise, 58, at Hamden police headquarters. DeLuise was arrested on a warrant and released after posting a court-ordered $25,000 bond, according to Hamden police. He is scheduled to appear at Meriden Superior Court on Tuesday, Jan. 8.

On January 4, Zip06/The Sound spoke with Acting Chief of Police Lovelace, who said there was no further information to add at that time to his earlier statement, which was issued Jan. 2 via press release.

In that statement, Lovelace said, "The North Branford Police Department has been made aware of the investigation and subsequent arrest of Mr. DeLuise. NBPD has taken all necessary steps to ensure that both public safety and the department's operations are not compromised. The charges against Mr. DeLuise are disturbing and troublesome, however, they are the actions of a single person and do not reflect the behavior of the dedicated men and women of the NBPD. Mr. DeLuise has been absent from his position with the NBPD since February 14, 2018, and has not been part of an active duty roster since that time. An internal affairs investigation has been initiated in response to the allegations of malfeasance."

According to Hamden police, a detective with its Computer Crimes Unit began investigating the case in January of 2018. On July 24, Hamden police executed a search and seizure warrant at DeLuise's Hamden home. At that time, multiple storage media devices, including computers, were seized. Further examination found a combination of 1,424 still image and movie files of suspected child pornography.