Compromising pics found on office computer -UPDATE-

[Locut0s]

#1 How do you know they are 14-15? With the popularity nowadays of super young looking 18 year olds in the porn industry it can be hard to tell what's legal. Also with the popularity of amateur porn and the like it can be hard to tell what was taken by an armature and what was downloaded from a pay site.

#2 Does it look like porn? Are the girls kissing in an obviously provocative manner or could the pics be somehow taken out of context like a joke at a family party or something?

Not trying to make excuses for downloading child porn or anything, I feel that's as disgusting as anyone else but taken out of context and not know what the pics look like this is not something that I would find easy to call. Personally I would try to ignore the issue. If the girls were even younger looking than that I would say you have an argument for going to the authorities but at that age things get more complicated as there are more legit reasons why someone might have such pics.

 

[lxskllr]

LOL, stealing company time. That's rich.

???

 

[LikeLinus]

???

The company doesn't actually own your time? You work for them, but they do not own you. It's not "stealing" because it's not something they "own". You can get up and walk out of your job at any time...you aren't "stealing" anything. That's retarded.

 

[GeekDrew]

Personally, I would stop using the PC, and send the matter up the chain -- depends on your organization as to what that means (your supervisor, HR, legal counsel, etc). I absolutely would not delete the files -- it's possible to see who deleted files, but not guaranteed (to be audited). It's also possible to see who created files, but not guaranteed (to be audited). I wouldn't resume using the PC until the matter has been reviewed and the files have been removed by someone other than yourself.

It all depends on what your agency's policy is. While I agree with edro that I'd feel bad about destroying someone's life if they got fired or arrested or etc, I'm willing to take that risk. If someone later found out that I knew of these images, and that I concealed evidence (or worse, deleted evidence), I'd definitely lose my job, and potentially face legal action as well.

 

[slightlyhuman]

when/if you get busted. point them to this thread and you're jail free

in all serious, i would delete them unless i knew for a fact they were young kids.

 

[lxskllr]

The company doesn't actually own your time? You work for them, but they do not own you. It's not "stealing" because it's not something they "own". You can get up and walk out of your job at any time...you aren't "stealing" anything. That's retarded.

When they're paying you to work, and you're not there working, or are working on something that doesn't involve the company, it's very much stealing. You're getting money for nothing.

 

[moshquerade]

#1 How do you know they are 14-15? With the popularity nowadays of super young looking 18 year olds in the porn industry it can be hard to tell what's legal. Also with the popularity of amateur porn and the like it can be hard to tell what was taken by an armature and what was downloaded from a pay site.

#2 Does it look like porn? Are the girls kissing in an obviously provocative manner or could the pics be somehow taken out of context like a joke at a family party or something?

Not trying to make excuses for downloading child porn or anything, I feel that's as disgusting as anyone else but taken out of context and not know what the pics look like this is not something that I would find easy to call. Personally I would try to ignore the issue. If the girls were even younger looking than that I would say you have an argument for going to the authorities but at that age things get more complicated as there are more legit reasons why someone might have such pics.

#1 - They don't look like "porn industry" pics. They look like something you'd see put in a photobucket album or an at a stretch on an jail bait amateur's site.

#2 There were shots of them getting ready to kiss, and then kissing, lying close with their arms around each other. Almost all of the pics had sexual connotations to them, but like I said, they were clothed.
I would say a big "no" to it being a "family party or something".

 

[MAKENITO]

I would pretend I didnt see anything.

 

[LikeLinus]

When they're paying you to work, and you're not there working, or are working on something that doesn't involve the company, it's very much stealing. You're getting money for nothing.

It's misconduct, but it is not stealing.

 

[SooperDave]

Mosh to IT guy- "Hey, I found these on here. Can you delete these for me? And while we're on the subject, what should I do if I find something like this again? "

If the IT guy wants to play detective the ball is in his court. And since you don't know
for sure who left the images you aren't ratting anyone out.

 

[robertk2012]

File a sexual harrasment suit against him and the company. ;-)

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

What he's done isn't illegal however tacky.

You have a couple choices.

1) Quit.
2) Make a powerful enemy
3) Leave it
or
4) Make an image backup and put it aside, then delete the files. As has been pointed it's easy enough to figure out who put these on the computer. It's extremely unlikely that people are going to ask why you deleted files, unless they are work related. Also by removing them you are less likely to have someone come across them and raise a fuss. They're a bomb waiting to go off so just ditch them. In the extremely unlikely event that you are called on it, just tell the truth. You found pictures you were uncomfortable with but aren't illegal. In the even more unlikely scenario that someone wants you to take a hit to protect your superior, you take the image to an attorney who will make sure you retire early and well off.

Cliffs- Don't make an enemy, don't leave them on, and cover your ass.

 

[lxskllr]

It's misconduct, but it is not stealing.

Semantics... You're taking something that doesn't belong to you. You must be in the law business :^S

 

[DrPizza]

Are you being serious? I don't play "the sexual harassment card". Sheesh Dr. P. What is up with you tonight?

I didn't say you did. You described an environment where those involved were males & where you didn't think there would be any consequences for the male responsible for downloading those images.

Ugh... yeh, he needs to be fired and for more reasons than this. I just think those who I'd report him to are in bed with him anyway so to speak and nothing would come of it.

The chain of command here isn't known for honesty from the top guy on down.

The Head of HR is a good friend of his.

All I'm saying is that if I were in your shoes, I would just delete them. 1. Because you think reporting the guy would "open a can of worms" and more precisely, because if there are *any* reprisals against you, you hold the trump card. I'm not saying you should play that trump card. I'm not saying you should even announce that you have that trump card up your sleeve.

What I am trying to say is that the situation you've described seems to be the type of situation where if you report it, you become one of the bad guys/one of the outsiders. i.e. turning the guy in could be a bad move. As they aren't legally pornographic, you could just delete them under the "I found those images inappropriate, but since it wasn't pornography, I didn't think they were significant enough to report." In a worst case scenario, with less than a 1% chance of happening, you're protected by the trump card.

 

[moshquerade]

What he's done isn't illegal however tacky.

You have a couple choices.

1) Quit.
2) Make a powerful enemy
3) Leave it
or
4) Make an image backup and put it aside, then delete the files. As has been pointed it's easy enough to figure out who put these on the computer. It's extremely unlikely that people are going to ask why you deleted files, unless they are work related. Also by removing them you are less likely to have someone come across them and raise a fuss. They're a bomb waiting to go off so just ditch them. In the extremely unlikely event that you are called on it, just tell the truth. You found pictures you were uncomfortable with but aren't illegal. In the extremely unlikely scenario that someone wants you to take a hit to protect your superior, you take the image to an attorney who will make sure you retire early and well off.

Cliffs- Don't make an enemy, don't leave them on, and cover your ass.

What's wrong with telling the IT guy these images were on here when I took over the computer today and I have no idea what to do with them? Can't I put the ball in his court without implicating anyone?

 

[DrPizza]

Hayabusa put this a lot better than I did. This:

What he's done isn't illegal however tacky.

You have a couple choices.

1) Quit.
2) Make a powerful enemy
3) Leave it
or
4) Make an image backup and put it aside, then delete the files. As has been pointed it's easy enough to figure out who put these on the computer. It's extremely unlikely that people are going to ask why you deleted files, unless they are work related. Also by removing them you are less likely to have someone come across them and raise a fuss. They're a bomb waiting to go off so just ditch them. In the extremely unlikely event that you are called on it, just tell the truth. You found pictures you were uncomfortable with but aren't illegal. In the even more unlikely scenario that someone wants you to take a hit to protect your superior, you take the image to an attorney who will make sure you retire early and well off.

Cliffs- Don't make an enemy, don't leave them on, and cover your ass.

 

[kush23]

give the computer back to the person and tell him to handle it everything

 

[Anghang]

You're in a sticky situation...you may be damned if you do or don't delete the pictures since either action may draw attention to you. Not knowing anything about the company you work for or how big it is, does your company have an ethics line that you can dial to anonymously report issues?

Being that it's a shared account, whether you get in trouble or not for not reporting it may come down to a couple of things:
1. your company's policies regarding such material on company property
2. how good user accountability is implemented and maintained for the shared account and the laptop, both logical and physical (ie: log retention, log review, chain of custody)

I suggest you find out your company's policy for employee facing technology (ie: laptops, PDAs, email, Internet, etc) to see what is defined as proper use. Hopefully the policy is specific enough to shed some light on the actions you can take. If however the policy is high level and gray to the point where it may allow wiggle room for the violation, it may come down to who you know and get political.

 

[Geekbabe]

I just think that if I do take the step to report it nothing may come of it except this guy finding out I ratted him out. The chain of command here isn't known for honesty from the top guy on down.

But then, it remains, do I just ignore the pictures? Maybe I should...

You've viewed the pictures, you've got to report it now, go to your immediate boss quietly and in a low key way, show him the file, tell him you accidentally opened it and are concerned that there's virus or something on the network, play mickey the dunce, a virus d/loaded those pictures.. let the boss take it from there. It's not your job to decide who d/loaded those pictures, it's your boss's, play stupid, let him handle it.

 

[Jeff7]

All I'm saying is that if I were in your shoes, I would just delete them. 1. Because you think reporting the guy would "open a can of worms" and more precisely, because if there are *any* reprisals against you, you hold the trump card. I'm not saying you should play that trump card. I'm not saying you should even announce that you have that trump card up your sleeve.

The problem there though is, what's to stop him from simply downloading them again?
Ok, the pictures might be provocative and such, but at this point, it sounds like they're pictures from Facebook or Myspace or something similar. That being the case, he's guilty mainly of using company property for something he shouldn't be, and almost certainly without permission.

Where I work, we can use company computers for Facebook, Youtube, etc - during break and lunchtime, that's it. But I don't think they want any of that stuff cluttering the hard drive anywhere other than in the browser cache.

 

[DrPizza]

What's wrong with telling the IT guy these images were on here when I took over the computer today and I have no idea what to do with them? Can't I put the ball in his court without implicating anyone?

That may be true. However, do those involved think you're stupid? If not, is that guy going to say to his HR friend: "she had to know that it was me. She just pretended not to know to get me in trouble."

I prefer to choose when to make waves at work & when to tread lightly. Unless you really think the guy is a scumbag who needs to be fired & want to add fuel to the pressure to get rid of him, then I don't see this as a situation where I'd necessarily want to create any waves.

 

[Zebo]

Has it occurred to you he deleted the child porn? FBI will find it - take it too them. We don't need sick fucks around our children.

 

[ShawnD1]

Honestly, you HAVE to report this. Despite what some are saying against it, it is the right thing to do.

I don't know man. A few years ago, a porno tape was found in my company's exercise room. You know what management did? They changed everone's keycard permission so nobody could get into the gym. Isn't that nice. Some douche brings a porno tape and we all get fucked? That's bullshit, and the OP might have an equally retarded boss.

I vote he do a secure deletion. There's free software you can download that will delete the file and overwrite it 35 times so it can't be recovered. Protect the gym access!

 

[nerp]

Call the police.

 

[DrPizza]

Has it occurred to you he deleted the child porn? FBI will find it - take it too them. We don't need sick fucks around our children.

Come to think of it...
In your workplace, does this coworker have routinely have contact with minors as a part of his job? If so, then I think it's a moral imperative that you report him. Bringing images like this into the workplace shows poor discipline toward leaving his fantasies at home. What's the next step?

If he doesn't routinely have contact with minors... delete.