Alan Hesketh - Made Viagra - Then looked at Child Porn

A British-born executive of Viagra-makers Pfizer has been arrested on child porn charges in the United States.

Alan Hesketh, global patent director of the pharmaceutical giant, is accused of posing as a 28-year-old woman while trading hundreds of images of children engaged in sex acts.

He allegedly traded the images with a man from Buffalo, New York, while chatting online between June 2006 and May 2007.

A Pfizer spokeswoman said Hesketh was on leave of absence from the company.

Federal agents said Hesketh, 61, signed on to the internet from his home in Connecticut and other internet addresses, including one registered to Pfizer in New York.

Hesketh was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York on Wednesday.

Hesketh, who was born in Britain, is a permanent US resident and has lived in the States since 2002.

If Hesketh is indicted and convicted, he will face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum 20 years for receiving and distributing child pornography and a maximum of 10 years in prison for possession of child porn. He could also face fines of up to £250,000.

Department of Homeland Security special agent Jason Dragon said Hesketh used the screen name "Suzybibaby" and posed as a 28-year-old woman interested "in images of child pornography".

Hesketh, who lives with his wife Jan in Stonington, Connecticut, has been remanded in custody until a bail hearing on Monday.

Kevin O'Connor, the US Attorney for Connecticut, said Hesketh's arrest was part of Operation Predator, an ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency initiative.

Predator targets those who prey on and exploit children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, internet pornographers, and "foreign national predators whose crimes make them deportable", he said.