Story highlights Suspect also had a career as an actor in gay pornographic movies, a source says

He had worked for the German domestic intelligence service since April, officials say

(CNN) A German domestic intelligence service employee arrested as a suspected Islamist plotting against the state also had a career as an actor in gay pornographic movies, a source with knowledge of the case said.

The source confirmed reports in German media that the man had roles in those movies but added that the development did not appear to be related to the alleged terrorist plot.

The prosecutors' office in Duesseldorf said Wednesday it had opened a criminal investigation against the man, a 51-year-old German citizen, on suspicion of "preparing a serious violent act endangering the state."

He had worked for the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution since April, it said. He was arrested November 16 over allegations of sharing protected materials and making Islamist statements online.

According to the statement from the prosecutors' office, the intelligence service employee "was tasked with the observation of the potentially violent Salafist scene" -- referring to an ultrafundmentalist branch of Islam.

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