Charge dismissed against Fort Worth cop who was accused of deleting child porn evidence

James Hartley
·2 min read
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A charge of tampering with evidence filed against a former Fort Worth police officer has been dismissed, according to court records and a news release from the former officer’s attorneys.

Rodsdricke Martin, who was until July 2022 a sergeant with the Fort Worth Police Department, was accused of deleting child pornography off a patient’s computer in a hospital instead of reporting it, according to police records released at the time. Martin, 47, was working at the hospital as a security guard.

He was indicted last year on a felony charge of tampering with evidence and fired from the police department, but court records show the charge was dropped Monday morning.

Fort Worth police declined to comment on the dismissal of the case. The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for information from the Star-Telegram.

According to the news release from Martin’s attorneys at law firm Varghese Summersett, the charge was dropped because prosecutors determined that the “recovered image did not meet the definition of child pornography.”

“We thoroughly reviewed the file and determined that no crime was committed by Sgt. Martin,” defense attorney Tiffany Burks said in the release. “After bringing our concerns to prosecutors’ attention, they agreed and determined that his case warranted a dismissal. Sgt. Martin dedicated 16 years of his life to serving the community as a Fort Worth police officer. While he is pleased with this outcome, he now must fight to restore his reputation and his career.”

At the time that Martin was fired, Fort Worth police said their internal investigation determined that he violated multiple department policies.

Varghese Summersett did not immediately respond to questions from the Star-Telegram about whether Martin plans to appeal his termination with the department now that the criminal charge has been dismissed.

This story contains information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.