Texas fire chief charged with child porn after social media site tip, officials say

A Texas fire chief has been arrested on child pornography charges, authorities say.

Port Neches Fire Chief Paul Nelson, 54, was in jail on two charges of promotion of child pornography, according to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.

Nelson was arrested Wednesday morning by a child exploitation unit in the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which executed arrest and search warrants, authorities said.

The investigation began after a social media site reported transmission of child porn through private messages to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, authorities said.

Nelson is a native of Randolph, Wisconsin, where he served as a volunteer fire chief for about a year, according to a biography on the Port Neches city website.

Nelson was suspended, and an assistant fire chief was serving as acting fire chief, The News in Port Arthur reported.

“As you would expect with most of these types of situations, it certainly was a surprise,” Port Neches City Manager André Wimer told the news outlet.

Port Neches is about 100 miles east of Houston.