SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A City of Scottsdale employee was arrested Thursday on "numerous counts" of sexual conduct with and sexual exploitation of a minor, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
According to Scottsdale police, the department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concerning 57-year-old Mitchell Mielke.
The tip, according to Scottsdale police, detailed "hundreds" of images and video of Mielke "sexually exploiting children."
Mielke worked as an irrigation technician for the City of Scottsdale for 19 years, city spokeswoman Kelly Corsette said Friday. He was placed on unpaid suspension after the city learned of the charges against him.
There is no word yet if any city equipment was used to produce or distribute the images.
"The city is shocked over the nature of these allegations, and deeply sympathetic to the victims and their families," Corsette said in an email.
Court documents said there were 368 files that were uploaded to a Yahoo server on Tuesday.
Scottsdale police said the department soon learned that Mielke lived in Scottsdale and the criminal activity depicted in the images and video took place at his residence.
According to police, many of the images and videos depicted Mielke having sexual contact with a 3-year-old girl. Detectives later learned, after speaking with the girl's family, that Mielke had been "helping watch and care for" the girl once a week for more than a year. The girl was the daughter of an acquaintance of his.
Court documents showed an IP address linked to Mielke had been reported in January and March after an explicit image showing child sexual exploitation was uploaded to Microsoft Skype.
Police said Mielke was arrested Thursday outside his Scottsdale home without incident. He is facing 10 counts of sexual conduct with a minor and 30 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for filming and distributing the images and videos.
A bond was set for $1 million. Mielke is set to appear in court next June 13.
Scottsdale PD said the investigation is ongoing.
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