FUGITIVE IN LOCAL CHILD PORN CASE CAUGHT AT MEXICAN BORDER
A former East Haddam man, who failed to show up for his court date in Norwich Superior Court in 2012 after being arrested on child pornography charges, was taken into custody in Texas on Monday.
Thomas Marcel was arrested in El Paso, Texas, as he crossed into the U.S. and was held as a fugitive from justice. The arrest was part of a joint investigation by the U.S. Marshal Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force, U.S. Marshal Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, Connecticut State Police and the Customs and Border Protection.
Authorities in a statement said Marcel was initially arrested in September 2008 on charges he solicited sex from an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl in an internet chat room. Police said Marcel was arrested at the Crystal Mall in Waterford, where he had agreed to meet the girl.
Court records show Marcel faces felony charges of possession of child pornography, promoting a minor in an obscene performance, risk of injury to a minor and enticing a minor by computer.
Marcel also faces an additional charge of first-degree failure to appear in court. He is currently being housed at the El Paso County Detention Facility in Texas and as he awaits extradition back to Connecticut.
NL POLICE AWARDED ACCREDITATION
The New London Police Department has earned its reaccreditation from the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council.
The department earned a Tier 1 accreditation, which signals adherence to a set of 123 standards dealing with liability issues that include everything from evidence storage and handling of juveniles to the department’s code of ethics and use of deadly force.
The reaccreditation was awarded at the POST Council meeting on March 9.
“The New London Police Department displayed utmost professionalism throughout the entire process and worked diligently with the assessors to get every standard into compliance,” a POST Council spokesperson said in a statement. “The New London Police Department demonstrated a commitment to excellence in policy and practices.”
New London Police Chief Brian Wright, in a statement, said the department “takes great pride in adhering to best practices since our initial accreditation in 2011.”