Anne Arundel County Police Officer Charged with Possession of Child Pornography, Sexual Solicitation of a Minor

An Anne Arundel County Police officer has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and the sexual solicitation of a minor, officials say.  

On March 23, 2020, the Anne Arundel County Child Abuse Unit initiated an investigation of possible sexual child solicitation as information was received from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The information received was that on February 26, 2020, a FBI Task Force Officer was working in an undercover capacity inside a specific pornographic website when a message was received from an unknown user who solicited a sexual encounter with a child.

Through further investigation, the unknown user was identified as Zachary Steven Koshlap, a thirty three year old male from the 400 block of Brooks Court in Glen Burnie Maryland. The suspect, Zachary Koshlap was also identified as being a law enforcement officer with the Anne Arundel County Police Department (6 years of service, assigned to the Bureau of Patrol.) Upon receiving the information on March 23, 2020, detectives diligently worked and obtained a search warrant for Zachary Koshlap and his residence which was executed in the evening hours of that same day. 

During the search warrant, numerous digital devices along with other corroborating evidence was secured as evidence. The suspect was interviewed at the time of the search warrant and admitted his involvement in the conversation regarding the eight year old child. 

It was at that time Zachary Koshlap was suspended from law enforcement duties as the investigation continued. 

All digital devices seized were submitted to be forensically analyzed by the Anne Arundel County Digital Forensics Laboratory. After receiving the results from the forensic extraction of the digital devices seized during the search warrant, detectives recovered evidence as well as apparent child pornography.

On Friday, April 3, 2020, working in conjunction with the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, Child Abuse detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Zachary Koshlap charging him with the sexual solicitation of a minor and ten counts of possession of child pornography. Within hours the suspect, Zachary Koshlap, was placed under arrest without incident near his residence and is currently suspended without pay.

Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy J. Altomare said, “True police, those with protective hearts, care about two groups of people more than any other. Those groups are our children and our elderly. Both groups, by virtue of their innocence or the effects of aging are the most vulnerable to predators. If someone wearing a badge betrays our oath of protection, we will do everything within our power to bring them to justice and make sure they never wear our uniform again. I am heart sick, physically ill, disgusted and enraged at the actions alleged in this case. I am also very proud of both our Federal partners and our investigators who relentlessly investigated this case from the moment they learned about it. We WILL do the right thing to hold predators in a uniform accountable every time. No one needs to force us to do so.”

As the investigation continues, the Anne Arundel County Police is urging any other victims or anyone with information regarding the above crimes to contact the Anne Arundel County Child Abuse Unit at 410-222-4733. One can also remain anonymous by calling the Anne Arundel County Tip Line 410-222-4700 or Metro Crime Stoppers.