TEMPLE TERRACE - A veteran Temple Terrace police officer charged last month with soliciting a lingerie modeling shop employee for sex has resigned - just before the release of an internal affairs investigation that uncovered further misconduct.

City officials announced John Gillespie's resignation Monday.

Tuesday they will release the internal affairs report, which reveals that Gillespie downloaded six images of adult pornography and visited seven pornographic Web sites from his work computer, said Temple Terrace spokeswoman Paula MacDonald.

MacDonald said the internal affairs inquiry also found that Gillespie used his access to a national law enforcement database to get personal information about confidential Tampa Police Department informants who played a role in the recent prostitution investigation against him.

Internal affairs investigators concluded that Gillespie was guilty of 12 violations, including conduct unbecoming of an officer, nonconformance to the law, and abuse of his position.

He resigned earlier this month and relinquished his criminal justice law enforcement certificate, ensuring he cannot be reinstated. MacDonald said he will qualify for his police pension, but she was not in the office Monday and did not know the amount.

Temple Terrace Police Chief Tony Velong issued a statement that he is "embarrassed and ashamed" of Gillespie's actions.

"This is an example of how an exemplary career can be destroyed by a bad decision," Velong said.

Gillespie joined the department 14 years ago and, until now, had an "exemplary" record within the department, said MacDonald.

He has been on paid administrative leave since July 29, after Tampa police videotaped a meeting between Gillespie and an employee from a lingerie modeling shop at the Wyndham Westshore Hotel, where Gillespie allegedly handed the woman $140 in exchange for sex.

Gillespie first propositioned Karen Smith on June 30 while she was working as a model at Legend of Sensual Secrets, 4613 N Grady Ave. in Tampa, according to Tampa police. The manager of the business called police after Gillespie visited the shop twice and asked Smith if she would have sex for money. On both occasions, Gillespie told store staff he was a police officer, according to Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin.

After Smith agreed to help Tampa detectives catch Gillespie, she called him to set up a date at the Wyndham. The Hillsborough State Attorney has charged him with soliciting for prostitution.

Gillespie was one of three officers who ordered county jail employees to take nude photographs of 24-year-old Debra Lafave, the former middle school teacher about to stand trial on charges she had sex with a student. The pictures were taken so that investigators could compare the images of Lafave's genitalia to what was described by the teenage boy with whom she allegedly had sex in June 2004.

Lafave's attorney John Fitzgibbons has said some of the photos were unnecessary and "pornographic."

The internal investigation found no problems with Gillespie's work in the Lafave case, MacDonald said.