A Bucks County sheriff’s deputy is accused of secretly taking photos of naked prisoners and then sharing the images with others.   Ryan Gaffney, 46, of Feasterville Trevose, Pennsylvania, is charged with two counts of official oppression – arrest search, unsworn falsification to authorities, obstructing the administration of law or other government function, and possession of an instrument of crime. The charges stem from an incident that occurred on Jan. 30, 2026, when Gaffney and four other deputies with the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office were executing an arrest warrant for a man at a home in Middletown Township. The man appeared to be having a mental health crisis and was upstairs in his bedroom, investigators said. Gaffney and another deputy eventually went into the bedroom to take the man into custody. According to the criminal complaint, the man was naked from the waist down at the time. After telling the man to put on a pair of pants, Gaffney covered up his body worn camera, took out his personal cellphone and used it to secretly take a picture of the man’s genitals, investigators said. Bucks County detectives began investigating Gaffney on March 31 after receiving a complaint from the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators interviewed another deputy in the office who said they witnessed Gaffney sharing a photo of the man’s genitals with his female coworkers, according to the criminal complaint. The deputy described the interaction between Gaffney and his coworkers as brief and “in jest,” investigators said. The deputy reported the incident to his supervisor three weeks after witnessing it, according to the criminal complaint. The deputy also claimed Gaffney had previously taken a photo of another naked prisoner who had been arrested back on Dec. 26, 2024, investigators said. Gaffney also shared that image with others, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators executed a search warrant on Gaffney’s personal cellphone and reviewed footage from the body worn cameras of other deputies who were there during the arrest in January. They also interviewed Gaffney as well as the man he allegedly took the photo of. Investigators later determined Gaffney had shared the images of the naked men with at least 12 people. While being interviewed about the allegations by Bucks County Sheriff Daniel Ceisler and other investigators on April 6, 2026, Gaffney allegedly made false and misleading statements before signing a written statement denying that he had used his personal cellphone to take a photo of the naked man and distribute the picture back on Jan. 30. Gaffney also provided through his legal counsel selective screenshots of his recently deleted photo libraries in an attempt to mislead investigators into believing the image of the naked man was not stored on his phone, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators said they recovered the naked images of both men through a forensic search of Gaffney’s phone. Gaffney was fired in June from the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office. Officials announced the charges against him during a press conference on Monday, July 20. “Mr. Gaffney’s conduct is a disgrace. It is a betrayal of the trust that was placed in him by the sheriff and by the taxpayers,” Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan said during the press conference. “The people of Bucks County must be able to trust that those who are sworn to protect them will respect their basic rights and dignity at all times, especially when they’re at their most vulnerable. When a deputy sheriff breaks the law and then attempts to cover it up by lying, he erodes the public trust that thousands of honest public servants work every day to preserve.” Khan also thanked Sheriff Ceisler.  “We appreciate Sheriff Ceisler’s swift action to refer this matter to our Office and the ongoing cooperation of the Sheriff’s Office with our investigation,” Khan said.   Gaffney’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 10, 2026. NBC10 reached out to Gaffney’s attorney, Paul Lange. “My client, Ryan Gaffney, is a veteran and father who has spent his life serving his country and his community through law enforcement,” Lange wrote. “Unlike the District Attorney’s Office, I will address this case in court, not through one sided social media posts or press conferences. Ryan Gaffney deserves due process, not trial by publicity. These are allegations, not facts, and we look forward to answering them where they belong, in a courtroom.” In addition to working in the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office, Gaffney was also a US Air Force veteran who served in Iraq and a part-time officer with the Hulmeville Borough Police Department. NBC10 reached out to Hulmeville Police for comment. We will include a response once we receive one. A photo of Ryan Gaffney from the Hulmeville Borough Police Department. ...read more read less