A firefighter pleaded no contest Friday to possessing child pornography while he was at work at a Los Angeles County Fire Department station in El Monte.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil ordered Matthew David Winters, 51, to complete 60 days of community labor and five years probation, attend one year of sex offender treatment and register as a sex offender for life following his plea to the felony charge, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
He was also barred from possessing any pornography or having any unsupervised contact with minors except for family members.
The judge — who set a March 6 progress report hearing — suspended a 16-month state prison term that Winters will not have to serve if he complies with the terms of his probation.
Winters was found to have been in possession of child pornography on a computer at a fire station in El Monte on or between December 2017 and May 2018, according to Deputy District Attorney Teresa de Castro.
When the case was filed against Winters last year, a county fire inspector declined to discuss Winters’ status with the department or to address the charges, citing “the sensitive nature” of the case.
His current status with the department was not immediately clear.