Allan George, who was shot twice and died Monday during a confrontation with Rifle Police, was facing charges that he possessed child pornography on his phone, according to court documents.
George, 57, completed four years of probation after taking a suspended sentence for similar child exploitation charges in 2008. Allan’s ex-wife, Tina George, assisted in his four years of probation and was shocked that he returned to those activities.
“I’m surprised he would even go back to doing something like that. I was blown away,” Tina said.
In statements to investigators in June, Allan admitted to viewing child pornography earlier in 2019, but insisted he never abused any children.
Tina also said her ex-husband never abused children, and she trusted George with their own two children.
“He was actually a really good person,” Tina said of Allan, despite his wrongdoing.
“I want it to be known that he did not violate a child physically. People put labels on that, but I don’t want him to be remembered that way,” she said.
The two divorced in 2013, and Tina felt comfortable sharing custody of their children.
Charges leading to fatal arrest
Local law enforcement began investigating George after an FBI task force on child exploitation and human trafficking connected him to a username used on a Kik Messenger chat room that shared explicit child pornography.
The FBI infiltrated the group, called “Taboo Parents,” and located 19 users who are in the U.S., nine of whom have been arrested on various child exploitation charges, according to the affidavit for George’s arrest.
The group was shut down at the end of May, but the username allegedly belonging to George was active in the chat room in April. According to the affidavit, George shared some explicit video to the group, but not of children.
Investigators contacted George in Vail, where he was working and living part time working on a construction project, and interviewed him. They also seized laptops and two phones from him and his home in Rifle.
After interviewing George, investigators analyzed the phones and laptops, and completed their report July 30.
One of the phones contained a sexually explicit video of a child, and at least seven exploitative still images of children, which was downloaded in Vail near the construction site where George worked, according to investigators. The other phone had a video depicting sex with a small animal.
Because the video and photos were apparently downloaded in Vail, prosecutors initiated the warrant in the Eagle County, part of the 5th Judicial District.
The warrant was signed Monday, and Rifle police located George in Rifle later that evening.
According to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, police officers stopped George on the Highway 13 Bridge over the Colorado River around 7:20 p.m. Monday, and things escalated.
“He had a gun, and the Rifle Police Department responded initially, to my knowledge, according to protocol,” sheriff’s spokesman Walt Stowe said.
A sheriff’s statement explained that “for the health, safety and welfare of the general public, as well as the officers present, shots were fired.”
George died of two bullet wounds to the chest, Garfield County Coroner Robert Glassmire said Wednesday.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, and the Rifle Police Department will perform an administrative review, Rifle Police Chief Tommy Klein said in a Monday release.