Former policeman admits 10 counts of child pornography possession

The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)
SECTION: NEWS
BYLINE: By Andrew Amelinckx, Berkshire Eagle Staff

Adams, MA

PITTSFIELD -- A former Adams police officer pleaded guilty to 10 counts of child pornography possession Friday in Berkshire Superior Court.

Alan C. Vigiard, 46, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 22. In the meantime, he is out on personal recognizance.

Vigiard quit the force a week after he was confronted with the evidence on Oct. 29, 2009: A CD containing images of child pornography using a police computer in the department's evidence room. The images ended up in the hands of the Berkshire District Attorney's office because they were on a CD of evidence from an unrelated larceny case.

The CD also contained a video showing a man masturbating in the evidence room. While the man's face wasn't visible, a scar on the man's hand matched Vigiard's. Vigiard was one of a few officers with a key to the evidence room.

Prosecutors asked and Judge Daniel Ford agreed to drop a charge of lasciviously posing or exhibiting a child in a state of nudity.

Assistant District Attorney Robert W. Kinzer III is recommending Vigiard be sentenced to a 2 1/2- to four-year prison term, followed by five years of probation.

Vigiard's defense attorney, Timothy Shugrue, is asking his client be given three years of GPS-monitored house arrest and five years of probation.

Vigiard was caught after a joint investigation by the Adams Police Department and Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the office of Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless.

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