ALEXANDRIA — The former assistant police chief from Ferriday who was arrested on federal child pornography charges last week pleaded “not guilty” in U.S. District Court.

Steve Cockerham was arraigned the Alexandria branch the U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana Thursday afternoon.

During the court appearance, the judge considered if the court would detain Cockerham but ultimately decided to continue his release on a $25,000 unsecured bond.

No future court dates — which will be set by the district judge — have been placed on the calendar for Cockerham’s case, said Lisa Langley with the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Cockerham at his home Dec. 29 following an indictment by a federal grand jury.

In the indictment, Cockerham was charged with one count of possession of child pornography.

During the arrest, the agents reportedly obtained items that included a computer, a hard drive, multiple thumb drives and other digital storage devices including CDs, floppy disks and DVDs.

A grand jury indictment is a legal process in which a grand jury states it believes that the prosecution has enough evidence to take a case to trial.