2014/10/27
A report has surfaced indicating that a police officer with the California Highway Patrol has been accused of invading women’s privacy.
The officer was stealing photos that women took of themselves and stored on their smart phones, reports say.
He would particularly steal the nude or suggestive photos, according to reports.
Apparently he was able to do this by arresting them on “drunk driving charges.”
He is suspected of confiscating their phones at that point and getting the photos.
But it gets worse.
Reports suggest that he would then share the photos with fellow officers.
The Contra Costa Times indicates that Officer Sean Harrington admitted to what he called a “game” that officers would play.
The game involved circulating photos of nude or provocative women that were stolen from their phones.
He said he learned to play it in Los Angeles, and admitted doing it at least half a dozen times, “over several years,” according to reports.
It is a sobering reminder to guard one’s information and privacy.
RELATED: Cop Who Kept His Job After Being Charged With Child Molestation Now Charged AGAIN With 1st Degree Rape of a Woman — Still Keeps Job
CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow says his agency has launched an investigation, adding that the allegations anger and disgust him.
UPDATE: Officer Resigns, Charged With Felonies
Christian Beltz, with Photography is Not a Crime, has released the following:
After recently being exposed for leaking explicit photographs of female arrestees, California Highway Patrolman Sam Harrington has resigned from the agency and charged Friday with two felonies for allegedly sharing these pictures with fellow officers.
According to reports from the Contra Costa Times, Harrington, 35, faces up to three years and eight months in prison under the two counts of computer theft filed against him Friday afternoon in Contra Costa County Superior Court. Harrington submitted his resignation to the CHP on Wednesday, according to a statement released by his attorney Friday afternoon.