An Aurora police officer suspected of having a teenager take sexually explicit photos of herself on the officer’s cell phone camera has resigned.

Michael Mangino, 50, who was on leave without pay since he was charged with sexual exploitation of a child in March, resigned this morning from the Aurora Police Department.

“I am relieved that Mr. Mangino is no longer a police officer in this agency,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said in a department media release.

Mangino faces sexual exploitation of a child charges and the case against him is ongoing.

The case stems from a March 9 incident in which Mangino drove a runaway suspected of smoking pot to Children’s Hospital for a urine analysis so she could be medically cleared to go to the Arapahoe County Juvenile Assessment Center.

According to an arrest affidavit and testimony during a preliminary hearing, the girl told investigators that Mangino said he had started taking photos of all the people he arrested. The girl told investigators that she thought Mangino wanted her to take photos of her naked body using his personal cellphone, and so she did.

Investigators found the photos on Mangino’s cellphone, according to the arrest affidavit and testimony.

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.