Dr. Bruce Hensel, a former NBC4 medical correspondent, was arrested in connection with allegedly contacting a 9-year-old girl for sexual purposes.
He was taken into custody on Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. on suspicion of contact with a minor for purpose of a sexual act, which is a felony, a Los Angeles Police Department public information officer confirmed to PEOPLE on Thursday.
He was released on bond Wednesday at 6:35 p.m., and his bail was set at $5,000.
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Hensel, 71, was charged with requesting the sexually suggestive images from the daughter of an acquaintance through a messaging app around Aug. 4, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
He faces one felony count of contact with minor for sexual purposes. If found guilty, Hensel faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in state prison. His arraignment will be scheduled at a later date.
Officials told NBC4 that a search warrant was served at Hensel’s Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 16 by investigators with the L.A. Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
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“We are cooperating fully with the authorities and we are looking forward to a speedy and complete exoneration,” Hensel’s attorney Steve Sitkoff said in a statement obtained by NBC4.
Hensel joined NBC4 in 1987 and worked as the chief health, medical and science editor and on-air correspondent for the station, according to the outlet. A rep for NBC4 had no comment.
