A Department of Industrial Accidents investigator, Michael Fiola, 53, of Rhode Island was fired from his job after he was found in possession of child pornography. He was fired and charged for possession of this sick material after his state-issued laptop was discovered to contain hundreds of images. The charges were dismissed because experts concluded he was unwittingly spammed the Boston Herald reports.
Malware was the culprit in child porn charges. (IMG:J.Anderson)
Fiola was the subject of scorn. He lost his job, his family and friends turned on him, and it is all thanks to, as it turns out, Malware. “The overall forensics of the laptop suggests that it had been compromised by a virus,” said Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley. Tami Loehrs, a well-known forensics investigator, told the Boston Herald that Michael Fiola’s ordeal was “one of the most horrific cases I’ve seen.”
“Our lives have been hell,” said Fiola. “I hope to recover my reputation, but our friends all ran.” Timothy Bradl, a partner in the law firm that represented Fiola said the state needs to issue an apology. “They have destroyed this man’s life,” Bradl said. “We have managed to expose the allegations as a fraud and DIA at this point only has one course of action,” Bradl added. “That is to step up, do the right thing and apologize to this man and his wife.”
Fiola’s problems started in November 2006, when the DIA replaced a laptop that was stolen. The laptop as it turns out was already infected and at risk. Later the DIA’s IT staff noticed that Fiola’s Verizon wireless bill was 4 times greater than his peers. This led them to look closer and the porn was discovered. “Imagine this scenario: Your employer gives you a ticking time bomb full of child porn, and then you get fired, and then you get prosecuted as some kind of freak,” Bradl said during a press conference. He added, “Anybody who has a work laptop, this could happen to. Mike Fiola is a hunt-and-peck kind of computer guy. He can barely get on the Internet.”
Once charges were brought and Fiola was dismissed from his job, the legal fight started and Loehrs was called in. In her lengthly thirty page report she said that “with 100-percent certainty that the laptop was compromised by numerous viruses and Trojans, and may have been hacked by outside sources. There is no evidence to support the claim that Michael Fiola was responsible for any of the pornographic activity.”
According to reports, Fiola wants to appeal his termination, but he does not want his old job back. He is also looking into a lawsuit against the DIA.
AnnaJun 17th, 2008 - 16:14:24
I'm close with the Fiolas, and what they have been through is absolutely horrid. They have hired a lawyer and intend to have their losses compensated at the hand of the state. The moral of the story? DON'T TRUST THE GOVERNMENT.
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