Gilbert resident Alaa Robert Bartley, 41, was indicted three days later by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. He was charged with one count of receiving child pornography and one count of knowingly possessing child pornography.
Bartley faces a sentence of five years to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the receiving charge. The possession charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years, or 20 years if the pornography depicts a minor who is not yet 12, as well as a fine of up to $250,000.
The Phoenix Police Department said it was "deeply troubled" by the arrest.
"We will remain transparent through this process and will provide updates when appropriate," the department said in a press release on April 5. Yet the statement did not include the name of the officer arrested and police have since refused to release a photo of Bartley.
Bartley, a Phoenix officer since 2007, was placed on paid administrative leave after the arrest and faces a department disciplinary process. In an April 8 statement, the agency called the alleged crime "despicable."
“What is alleged is contrary to the courageous work done every day by the men and women of the Phoenix Police Department to protect one of the most vulnerable populations in our community, our children,” Chief Michael Sullivan said in the statement.
Bartley "exchanged messages, images, videos, calls and internet links over the messaging platform WhatsApp" with an adult woman named Sarah Chadwick, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The two expressed their sexual interest in children, and Chadwick allegedly sent Bartley child pornography images.
Bartley used a fake name but said he was a police officer and sent a picture of his face to the woman, according to the indictment.
Chadwick, who lived in Pontiac, Michigan, was arrested in November 2023 and charged in December.
Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan said the allegations against Alaa Robert Bartley are "contrary to the courageous work done every day" by officers.
Matt Hennie
‘It’s pretty bad that I’m a pedo cop’
The indictment includes an affidavit from FBI agent Jonathan Williams, who investigated the case. Williams wrote that he reviewed approximately 7,500 pages of conversations between Bartley and Chadwick that took place between August 2020 and February 2022.
According to the affidavit, Bartley and Chadwick frequently role-played as "Daddy" or a police officer and a female minor between the ages of 6 to 16 years old.
In one conversation from Sept. 14, 2020, Bartley allegedly told Chadwick, “Its pretty bad that I’m a pedo cop,” the affidavit says.
Four days later, according to the affidavit, Bartley apparently described a poker during which he "interacted with his boss’s 9-year-old daughter and later masturbated to thoughts of her."
On June 20, 2021, Bartley allegedly asked Chadwick to acquire nude photographs of a 14-year-old Tumblr user named “teen angel."
"I think it would be hot for you to groom minors for daddy," Bartley wrote, according to the affidavit. "Is that too much?"
"Idk," Chadwick responded.
"After I said it realized how weird of a situation that is," Bartley then said.
In a conversation on July 7, 2021, Bartley discussed how he might molest his nieces, the affidavit notes. A few months earlier, Bartley told Chadwick that he fantasized the most about his youngest niece, who was 6 years old.
During the approximately 17 months of communications between the two adults, Chadwick allegedly sent child pornography to Bartley on several occasions. Bartley often acknowledged receiving photos and thanked Chadwick.
On April 4, 2024, the FBI searched Bartley's home and personal autos, as well as his Phoenix police cruiser and locker.
Agents found a phone in the bottom drawer of a nightstand at Bartley's residence. Bartley's wife stated this phone was the device her husband used to view pornography, though she said she did not know of him ever viewing child pornography.
She did know the PIN to unlock the phone, however, and told Williams that Bartley had an affair in 2018, after which he agreed to allow her access to the phone for transparency. She told Williams she never accessed the device.
An FBI forensic analysis of the phone discovered more than 49,000 images and 700 videos, many of which were identified as child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, the official name for child porn, according to the affidavit.
"Agents familiar with child pornography files on the internet identified a number of images that, based on their experience of viewing this material and enhanced by the context of chats, appear to be CSAM," Williams wrote in his affidavit.
Williams included several written examples describing the contents of the images and videos found. Two images depicted a young girl "who looks no older than 7" engaged in sexual activity.
