Nuggets Chris Anderson Involved in Child Internet Porn Scandal

The fact that the Denver Nuggets have forced a game 7 in their first round series with the Los Angeles Lakers is talking sort of a backseat with the local and national media.

According to confirmed reports, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force in Colorado has launched a full-blown investigation into Nuggets star, Chris Anderson.

Although details of the investigation remain unknown, it has been confirmed that The Birdman’s home in Larkspur — 40 miles south of Denver — was searched on Thursday before the Nuggets hosted the Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Playoffs.

“The Denver Nuggets are aware of today’s media reports involving forward/center Chris Andersen. It involves a legal investigation and we are awaiting further details,” team officials wrote in a statement shortly after the initial reports. “Per team policy, the Nuggets will not comment on any ongoing legal circumstance involving any player or employee.”

It is reported that a group of Douglas County sheriff deputies entered his home, searched it, and did in fact remove property for an ongoing investigation that began three months ago, said police spokesman Ron Hanavan in a statement.

On Thursday, the Nuggets organization decided to excuse the 33-year-old, power forward/center, indefinitely from all team related activities. Anderson, who hasn’t been arrested and/or charged, will not play for the remainder of the postseason should the Nuggets advance to the second round. The team declined to comment on the situation.

As for the details of the case, Hanavan didn’t care to elaborate on anything other than stating that the confiscated property was believed to be, “connected to this case.”

Law enforcement officials divulged that the Anderson investigation began in February when an unnamed California law enforcement agency tipped off the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.

“Think of it a narcotics trafficking network. There may be thousands of people out there right now who have never met each other,” Colorado Springs Police Sgt. Bill DeHart attempted to explain the structure of the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit. “If we arrest someone in Colorado Springs and that person has been in contact with people across the United States, we’ll send out those leads.”

Douglas County Sheriff Dept. spokeswoman Deborah Sherman briefly spoke to reporters following the raid of Anderson’s residence. Stating that the 10-year NBA vet was the one who answered the door and let the officers in, Sherman said she couldn’t stipulate about the potential charges he may face in the near future.

“It could include many different things. Right now we’re not saying. They literally just got the property this morning,” she told the Denver Post. “The sheriff’s office did contact him this morning while he was at his house and he cooperated fully.”

Much like the Nuggets, Anderson’s agent, Mark Bryant, also declined to comment on specifics about the investigation. Calling Anderson an “outstanding member of this community” Bryant stood by his client and issued a brief statement:

“I believe in Chris. I would ask the citizens of Colorado to give Chris his due,” he wrote. “Like every one of us, he is presumed innocent. At the end of the day, I am confident it will be shown that he did nothing wrong.”

Before the Lakers and the Nuggets tipped thing off, head coach George Karl addressed a large group media members at the Pepsi Center. As expected, all the questions were about Anderson’s potential involvement in the investigation.

“For me right now, I’m in a stage where I don’t know enough information and we’re advised probably not to talk about it until we know the information, but the one thing I will say is – I trust Chris,” said the future Hall of Famer. “My years with him, he’s been fantastic and he’s really grown as a person. We’re going to support him and stand by him.

“I talked to Bird for about 5-10 minutes after shootaround. He was emotional and I was in a state where I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on that. I think enough guys individually have been told what’s going on. We don’t have the full story to analyze and scrutinize. I trust Bird, I think Bird will figure this out.”

Game 7 of this series is scheduled for Saturday night at 10:30 PM ET on TNT Sports. Need a little help making your 2012 NBA Playoff picks? Sign up to receive free NBA playoffs picks right here!

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