COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A now-former law enforcement officer has been indicted by a federal Grand Jury in Atlanta of dealing in online child porn.
Peter Bilardello, a veteran Cobb County Sheriff’s Deputy, worked, at one time, according to prosecutors, in a sex-offender unit at the Sheriff’s Office.
He also sought and received training in sex crimes investigations, all while, prosecutors say, he was committing online sex crimes against children.
“Bilardello allegedly shared child pornography through social media while he was employed as a law enforcement officer,” U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in a news release Wednesday. “The victimization of children is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, and distributing images of child sexual abuse compounds the harm. It is especially troubling that these crimes were allegedly committed by someone in a position of public trust.”
Bilardello was arrested this past August, resigned from the sheriff's office, and in January was indicted by a federal Grand Jury.
According to federal prosecutors, Bilardello possessed and distributed child pornography, online for years.
Prosecutors say in November 2019, a social media company called MeWe, detected one of its users uploading and sharing about 12 images of child porn. Prosecutors say MeWe reported the activity to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which then traced the account to a user in Marietta and contacted the Cobb County Police Department, which according to prosecutors, ultimately identified the user as Peter Bilardello.
A search of Bilardello’s home and his cell phone, prosecutors say, “confirmed that Bilardello had uploaded and shared child pornography while chatting with other users.” Prosecutors say police found “more than 100 images and videos depicting young children in sexually explicit conduct.”
“It is the mere possession and the mere distribution of these materials that constitute the crime,” Atlanta Criminal Defense Attorney Bill Thomas said.
Thomas is a former state and federal prosecutor and a former police officer.
He looked at Bilardello’s training record during his years with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.
The record shows that just last year, for example, while prosecutors say Bilardello was using his cell phone, dealing in child porn online, he was also taking elective law-enforcement courses such as “sexual assault investigations, understanding trauma and its impact on victims” and “cell phone investigations.”
Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens told 11Alive this past August when Bilardello was arrested that Bilardello was not then involved in investigating sex offenses for the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff's office clarified Bilardello was with the agency from December 2005 through August of last year. During his employment, he worked with the sex offender unit from February 26, 2017 through April 18, 2021.
A statement from the sheriff's office said Owens worked with Cobb County Police concerning the charges against Bilardello and immediately relieved him of duty while launching an internal investigation. Bilardello resigned on August 16, 2021 during the investigation, according to the agency.
“I mean, it would certainly give that person cover for those activities,” Thomas said. “It would certainly give that person access to materials that would feed that addiction or that predilection if you will.”
The warrants against Bilardello say he “admitted to chatting (online) about sexual acts with children, but stated it was fantasy” only, and he denied uploading photos.
11Alive is working to reach Bilardello’s attorney for comment.
Thomas said that while defendants are innocent until proven guilty, charges against law enforcement officers raise questions about why the officers were cleared for duty in the first place.
“Law enforcement takes great efforts to screen out bad apples and people who don’t need to be in law enforcement,” Thomas said. “But no system is perfect, no screening process is perfect, and bad apples slip through.”