SEPTA transit police officer faces federal child pornography charges

A SEPTA police officer who prosecutors say viewed and shared child pornography for years — sometimes while on the job — has been charged with child sexual exploitation.

Brian Zenszer, 43, of Warminster, was arrested earlier this month after federal investigators learned he used the messaging app Kik to request and view dozens of files of child pornography, including images of prepubescent children being sexually abused, according to the indictment .

A federal judge has ordered Zenszer to remain in custody until trial, court records show.

Zenszer’s attorney Maranna Meehan did not immediately return a request for comment.

Zenszer, who was fired after the criminal charges were filed, was a SEPTA police officer for 17 years, assigned to foot patrols throughout the transit system, primarily along the Broad Street and Market-Frankford lines, said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch.

“The allegations are disturbing and we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness and urgency,” SEPTA said in a statement. “The individual was immediately placed on leave when the SEPTA Transit Police Department received notification from the FBI, and his employment has been terminated.”

Omari Bervine, president of Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109, the union that represents about 200 patrol officers, said the union did not represent Zenszer and declined to comment further.

The investigation was sparked by tips provided to Kik that two accounts associated with Zenszer had shared child pornography, the complaint said.

After executing a search warrant for the accounts, federal investigators found 24 files of child pornography on an account that Zenszer used to view and share images and communicate with others online, sometimes soliciting videos of minors being sexually abused. the complaint said.

When that account was closed by Kik, Zenszer opened another account, and investigators found 16 additional pornographic images featuring children, according to the complaint.

Using the app, authorities said, Zenszer talked to others about videos of child sexual abuse. He also said he stole his girlfriend’s 12-year-old daughter’s underwear and masturbated in the child’s bedroom, the complaint said.