LIVE OAK, Fl. (WTXL) - Live Oak Police Chief Buddy Williams recently received a call he never expected. It was the FBI, telling him his friend of more than two decades was accused of possessing child pornography.
After that call, the FBI searched Sergeant Kyle Kirby's home, where nothing was found. And then his patrol car; that's where officials say they found more than 80 child porn images in Kirby's downloads folder.
The FBI arrested Kirby and transported him to Jacksonville where he made his first appearance in a federal court.
Chief Williams says this has been one of the hardest moments he has dealt with as a law enforcement administrator. Adding that this investigation has been a roller coaster ride of emotions for him, including feelings of anger and disbelief.
"That's what makes it tough", he said, "When you have a relationship with someone who decides to make a bad decision, if that's the case. So it makes it even more difficult when you are friends and coworkers."
Kirby was employed with the city of Live Oak since September 2002, and Chief Williams says he had known Kirby, since Kirby was in grade school.
Kirby was fired from the department.
"I would have never in a million years, thought that I would be here making this announcement, but I will tell you this: We're still going to go strong", said Williams. "We're still going to continue to do what we do. I think that we have a level of trust with our citizens here and I think they trust us to do the right thing and make the right decisions."
