Charges Send Shockwaves Through County

French, who served with the sheriff's office for 30 years, four of them as sheriff, faces seven counts of child porn possession.

Charging documents prepared by the Pierce County prosecutor's office said French downloaded pictures that depict graphic and, in some cases, violent, images -- all involving children.

Several files allegedly included pictures of infants as young as four months old being raped.

Tacoma police said French tried to erase the images from his hard drive using software such as Evidence Eliminator and Internet Washer Pro, but investigators say French was visiting a child porn site when detectives arrived in late April. Newly-downloaded images were still on the computer's hard drive.

French's computer was seized after Houston police tipped Tacoma officers that his credit card number was found during an investigation into a pornography website.

Officers raided French's live-aboard boat at the Tacoma Yacht club at 7 a.m. on April 24.

Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that French has not been arrested and that investigators aren't sure where he is.

French often spends summers traveling in his RV, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.