Former LSU Police Department Lt. Thomas Fife is under investigation after the FBI seized his work computer, which was used to access child pornography.
Fife was placed on paid administrative leave July 19 after agents searched his on-campus office, The Advocate reported Tuesday.
Fife, a 21-year LSUPD veteran, resigned July 23.
Sheila Thorne, a special agent in the FBI’s New Orleans office, told The Daily Reveille on Monday that the FBI is holding a criminal investigation but said she could not make specific comments. Thorne said because the investigation is ongoing, Fife has not been arrested.
LSUPD spokesman Maj. Lawrence Rabalais told The Daily Reveille that the FBI is running forensics on Fife’s computer, and Rabalais said he is “not sure exactly what the end result is going to be.”
Earlier this month, LSUPD began monitoring its internal network with a program called Spector 360, according to an affidavit.
An officer assigned to review data logged by the monitoring software noticed on July 10 that a computer at LSUPD headquarters, under the user name “tfife,” was “viewing still images of animated child pornography,” according to the affidavit.
Numerous still images of child pornography were accessed on Fife’s computer between July 9 and July 19.
Along with Fife’s computer, the FBI also seized software, e-mail messages, chat logs, cameras, film, videotapes and any other photographic equipment, among others, according to a federal search warrant.
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