Screener Arrested With Over Two Dozen Images

A TSA screener employed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport in south Florida has been arrested and charged with 25 counts of possessing child pornography. Andrew Smeal has been the target of a seven-month investigation by the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

When Smeal (pictured in Broward County Sheriff's Department mug shot) was arrested, he had 25 images of children engaged in sexual acts on his computer. He told investigators at first he had downloaded the images and deleted them, but later said he did not know how the images had gotten onto his computer, according to the arrest report.

Television station CBS4 in Miami (WFOR) reports that there is no indication he looked at such images while at his job at the airport. He had been employed as a screener by TSA about two months ago. He told the police during an interview that he had never touched a child inappropriately

Smeal was being held in the Broward County Jail with bond set at $50,000. TSA would not comment on his employment status.

FMI: www.tsa.gov, http://sheriff.org