Retired Beavercreek DARE officer appears in court on child pornography charges

A retired Beavercreek DARE police officer who was arrested last year on child pornography charges appeared in federal court Thursday for a motion to suppress hearing.

Kevin Kovacs was arrested last year and indicted on allegations that he “coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of creating child pornography,” the Department of Justice said in a release at the time.

The crimes allegedly occurred between March and April of 2015, according to the indictment.

He is also charged with counts of distributing, receiving, transporting and possessing child pornography as well as allegedly intimidating, threatening or corruptly persuading an individual in hopes of obstructing or impeding communication with federal authorities about the investigation in 2019, the Department of Justice said in the release.

During a hearing Thursday morning, Kovacs’ attorney, Jon Paul Rion, questioned Fairborn Police Detective Shane Hartwell about his investigation and search warrants he obtained. The questions focused on the timeline of the warrants and when they were executed.

Rion also questioned Hartwell about using West Carrollton Police’s and the FBI’s help in conducting a forensic search of seized phones.

U.S. District Judge Michael Newman didn’t rule on the motion Thursday, instead he requested the government and defense write out their arguments.

Kovacs remains in the Shelby County Jail in federal custody.

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