July 10--A 36-year-old Lubbock firefighter was placed on administrative leave Wednesday following his indictment the day before by a Lubbock County grand jury for reportedly posting an online video of an ex-girlfriend performing sexual acts.
Travis Parkinson, who has been with Lubbock Fire Rescue since 2003, will be on leave pending an internal investigation, according to a Lubbock Fire Rescue statement.
There were no other comments about the case in the statement.
Parkinson is charged with online impersonation, a third-degree felony, and a second count of improper photography, which is a state jail felony.
He is accused of secretly recording his ex-girlfriend performing a sexual act then posting the video on the pornographic website Xtube.com and using her name and the city of Lubbock in the title.
Parkinson's ex-girlfriend found out about the video in June when she began receiving Facebook friend requests from strangers and contacted the police, according to an arrest warrant.
The video, which was posted about a month ago, has been taken down by site administrators, citing a violation of its terms of use. However, it has drawn more than 7,700 views.
Investigators obtained e-mails Parkinson reportedly sent to his ex-girlfriend stating he planned to upload the video to several sites and said he was doing it because he was upset about their breakup and wanted to humiliate and intimidate her.
Parkinson's ex-girlfriend told police he has been harassing her by text message, email and Facebook messages since she broke up with him in late February or early March.
She said Parkinson threatened to call her family and workplace and tell them bad things about her to get her fired.
She said Parkinson said he would delete the video if she slept with him one more time and threatened to send images from the video to her family and co-workers.
Lubbock police arrested Parkinson June 26 at his home and he was released the next day. His bond was set at $15,000, according to jail records.
An arraignment is set for July 18 in the 137th District Court.
--766-8707
Follow Gabe on Twitter
@AJ_GabeMonte
Copyright 2014 - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas
