Brookline police arrested a 27-year-old Boston man on Wednesday and charged him with possession of images depicting child sex abuse.
The man, Firoze Kohli, was also charged with the dissemination of obscene matter.
Brookline police received information in June about Kohli, a former Brookline resident who now lives in Boston, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to Deputy Superintendent Paul Campbell.
The organization had received a tip from MediaLab, the parent company of the messaging app Kik, Campbell said.
On Wednesday, officers executed a search warrant at a Commonwealth Avenue address, and found items that appeared to be child sex abuse material, Campbell said. Officers arrested Kohli and seized several electronic devices.
“This is an active investigation, and more charges are possible as detectives continue to look into the case,” Campbell said.
According to NBC Boston, which first reported the arrest , officers from Boston police and the FBI were also on the scene Wednesday. Campbell said that the agencies were assisting what is primarily a Brookline police investigation.
Kohli is scheduled to be arraigned at Brookline District Court Thursday morning.
Firoze Kohli, 27, was taken into custody after a court-authorized search at an apartment on Commonwealth Avenue, police said. He faces charges of possessing child pornography and disseminating obscene matter.
Kohli is being suspended from Boston College, where he's a graduate student, a representative for the school said in a statement to NBC10 Boston.
"BC Police has been cooperating with Brookline Police on the investigation. With today's arrest, the graduate student will be issued a summary suspension from the University, which will remain in effect until the resolution of the court proceedings," the statement said.
The investigation began with a tip from the parent company of an app called Kik to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which passed it along to Brookline police, the department said. At the apartment, officers saw what appeared to be child sex abuse imagery and seized several electronics.
More information about the alleged crimes wasn't immediately available, and it wasn't immediately clear if Kohli had an attorney who could speak to the charges.
Police noted more charges were possible as the investigation continues.
Boston police and FBI agents were at the scene as well.
Another apartment, on Beacon Street, was searched in connection with the investigation, police said, but they determined a former roommate of Kohli's was not suspected of any criminal activity.
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