GEORGETOWN, Kentucky –A Georgetown police detective has resigned rather than fight allegations that he had 34 pornographic videos on his work computer.

Detective Tom Bell resigned July 22, three days before he was scheduled for a disciplinary hearing on the matter.

Bell, who had been with the Georgetown department for 111/2 years, had been suspended without pay since June 5, according to documents obtained through an open records request.

There was no answer at Bell’s Georgetown home yesterday. But in a resignation letter to Georgetown Mayor Karen Tingle-Sames, Bell wrote:

“While I vehemently deny the allegations … and would like nothing more than to confront these allegations in a hearing, I must also face the reality of the further emotional and financial strain such a course of action would have on me and my family.

“It has become increasingly clear that the costs associated with defending me against these allegations are much more than my family can bear,” Bell wrote. “Rather than place my family in a position of financial decline, I have chosen the only possible course available to me.”

Bell was suspended June 5 after the city performed an April audit of the software contained on his work computer, according to a disciplinary letter written by the mayor. The audit discovered that “numerous unauthorized software programs” had been loaded onto the computer, the letter said.

“In addition, the audit revealed that there were 34 pornographic videos stored on your computer,” the mayor wrote.

Tingle-Sames said yesterday that she did not see the videos, but it was her understanding that the images depicted adults, not children. Asked whether the videos could have been related to any criminal case under investigation by Bell, Tingle-Sames said, “We feel very comfortably” that they were not related to work.

Cyber Agents Inc., a Lexington company that specializes in forensic examinations of computers, determined the dates that the various programs and videos were loaded into the computer.

“Upon their examination, it was determined that all videos and unauthorized software were loaded on your computer under your password, during a time in which only you had restricted access to the computer in question, and prior to Jan. 25, 2007,” the mayor wrote.

Records released by the city yesterday showed that “suspected pirated programs” used to watch the videos were “downloaded and installed using the ‘Tom’ account on the Gateway computer” in November and December 2006.

Such alleged actions violated several city policies, including improper use of department equipment, which says that officers shall use equipment only for its intended purposes.

Bell also allegedly violated guidelines for appropriate conduct, such as unauthorized use of supplies, willful abuse of city property, misuse of a city computer, and excessive personal use of a city computer, the mayor’s letter said.

The alleged conduct also violated city policies prohibiting the downloading or accessing of any material from an Internet site or source where the principal content is sexually oriented, and downloading material in violation of copyright law.

During his tenure with Georgetown police, Bell had investigated several high-profile cases, including the 2002 murder of Toyota worker Diane Snellen.