Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
The Suffolk District Attorney’s Office has dropped the child porn possession charge that was filed against Michael Fiola, a former Department of Industrial Accidents investigator in Massachusetts. Fiola was fired from his job after child pornography was discovered on his state-issued laptop. The computer was a replacement laptop, issued in November 2006, after the one he had been using was stolen.
Several months later, IT officials at the DIA noticed that his data usage was four times higher than that of his colleagues. He was fired on March 14, 2007. Fiola had spent several years as a DIA employee investigating workers’ compensation fraud.
Massachusetts state police convinced the Boston Municipal Court to charge him with possession of child pornography in August 2007. After conducting a lengthy investigation, however, Tami Loehrs, a nationally renowned computer forensic analyst retained by Fiola’s defense team, discovered that the former investigator was the victim of spam.
Loehrs’s 30-page report discusses how Fiola’s laptop had been running corrupt virus protection software and that crackers and spammers had barraged the computer’s memory with images of pre-teen porn and incest. The images could not be seen by the naked eye.
Loehrs says she is 100% convinced that viruses and trojans had compromised the laptop, which may have been hacked, and that her findings show no “user interaction preceding the porn activity,” some of which had been rapidly downloaded.
Fiola’s wife, Robin says her husband has always been computer illiterate, and that he plans to sue the DIA for “destroying our lives.” Fiola says that their friends abandoned them and he wants to get his reputation back.
Child pornography possession is considered a serious criminal and social offense in Massachusetts. A criminal charge of child porn possession can lead to the ruin of your reputation, the loss of your job, and the loss of relationships.
Probe shows kiddie porn rap was bog, Bostonherald.com, June 16, 2008
Victim of malicious software tells how it cost him his job, his friends, his livelihood and his peace of mind, Computerworld.com, June 18, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Department of Industrial Accidents
Tami Loehrs
You are entitled to representation by an experienced Massachusetts defense team that is looking out for your best interests. Our Boston sexual crimes lawyers can determine whether the charges can be dropped or the penalties reduced. Contact Altman & Altman LLP today.
