Robert Watson, 54, of Des Moines, brought his gravy-soaked laptop into a local Best Buy back in August and asked workers to transfer his files onto his new device, according to police.
That's when employees with the store's "Geek Squad" said they found several inappropriate images of underage girls, police said.
"During this file transfer process employees at Best Buy 'Geek Squad' observed multiple images they believed contained child pornography," police said in a complaint. "Once this transfer was complete both computers were collected by Des Moines police as evidence."
© Polk County Sheriff’s OfficePolice charged Robert Watson, of Des Moines, Iowa, with possession of child pornography on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.
When detectives asked him to explain himself, he said he downloaded the images "to tell other people about them," according to the complaint.
Best Buy did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment, but a company spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that its "Geek Squad" discovers suspected pornography on devices nearly 100 times each year.
"They don't search for the material, but inadvertently discover it in the normal course of repairing a computer," Best Buy public relations director Paula Baldwin told BuzzFeed. "When we do find what appears to be child pornography, we have a legal obligation to notify law enforcement and we inform our customers of this prior to doing any work. Law enforcement determines a course of action based on the evidence, as they did in this situation."
Watson was arrested on Tuesday and charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography. He was being held at the Polk County Jail on a bond of $50,000 as of Thursday.
He has not entered a plea and it was unclear if he had retained an attorney.
Reader Comments
Mark my words, if the cops don't like you, they can arrange your computer to show what they want.
R.C.
P.s. I know that any defense of anyone merely accused of child molestation will result in irrational discussions/replies/retorts/ad hominems, so I'll say in advance: try to open your mind up on the role of government vs. individuals. (It's similar to folks like me who question the absurdity of our DUI laws, which are a big cash cow for the state, and yet driving drunk is far less likely to cause a crash than driving while using a cell phone.)
I represented two different alleged child molesters; on the first I did all the discovery but not the trial, the second I also did the trial.
The first guy was INNOCENT. However, a Salem witch trial mentality - and hope for big payday from small county school system - got him convicted. 25 years, no good time; no gain time.
The second was most likely guilty: 55%, I'd guess. I got him acquitted. (It can be a stressful job. Those events, and others even less 'fair' ceased any criminal defense efforts by moi.
R.C.
The fact that the computer had gravy on it is to provide a note that allows folks to exercise their schadenfreude in comment sections.
R.C.