A veteran firefighter from Boca Raton is currently facing charges for allegedly uploading child pornography, based on information from a cyber tip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) late last year. Identified as a 51-year-old Alejandro Fernandez Callegari, the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office arrested him following an investigation into the uploaded content, which included images of young girls, the youngest being just 3 years old, as per a report by NBC Miami.
The authorities said that after following up on multiple legal processes, they ascertained that Callegari was the owner and user behind the account in question. He invoked his right to counsel and did not wish to speak to detectives when deputies arrived at his house. The CBS12 report details events leading up to his arrest. After his arrest, he was transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Facility in Miami without incident, facing two counts of possession of sexual performance by a child, and a bond was set the following day at $5,000.
This isn't Callegari's first brush with the law; according to CBS12, he's been called out for misconduct in the past. In 2015, he faced accusations of theft, selling stolen merchandise, and abusing his firefighter badge to sway a police officer during a traffic stop involving his wife.
The City of Boca Raton, confirming Callegari's position as a firefighter, placed him on administrative leave and released a statement saying "These serious and disturbing allegations do not reflect the values or standards of conduct we uphold for all City employees," according to initial details provided by NBC Miami, and in stark contrast to his appearance on NBC affiliated WPTV in 2018 during which he competed in a national cooking competition to raise money for fallen firefighters.
The Boca Raton Fire Department has not yet released a formal statement regarding Callegari's arrest and ongoing investigation however, NBC6 has made attempts to reach out for comment. The outcome of these inquiries remains unclear as of this writing.
