When several celebrities had their nude photos stolen by hackers, iCloud’s security came under much scrutiny. Both the FBI and Apple are looking into the compromised celebrity iCloud accounts, with Apple deciding to enable two-step verification for the cloud service’s website. However, iCloud can also prove very helpful, as one California Highway Patrol officer found out the hard way.
The incident, reported by ABC 7 News, took place in August, when a 23-year-old California woman was arrested for suspected drunk driving. She allowed Officer Sean Harrington to access her iPhone in order to get the phone number of someone she needed to call. After she had been booked, she checked her iPad and noticed someone had sent nude pictures of her from her phone to another phone. After further investigation, the number that received the photos allegedly belonged to Harrington’s phone.
According to court documents, this isn’t the first time Harrington committed such an act, as he was charged with two felonies on Friday. One felony pertains to the original complainant, Jane Doe No. 1. The second felony pertains to a different woman, Jane Doe No. 2, who had the same thing happen to her.
Talking to NBC Bay Area, Harrington’s lawyer, Michael Rains, said his client regrets his actions. “You talk about paying the price for something you once called a game,” said Rains. “You can’t pay too much of a price for that, and frankly, it’s not over.”
Rains is referring to documents the San Jose Mercury News reportedly acquired, in which Harrington allegedly describes the act of stealing photos of those arrested as “a game.” The documents also reportedly implicate California Highway Patrol Officers Robert Hazelwood and Dion Simmons. Hazelwood allegedly texted Harrington “No fucking nudes?” after one arrest.
CHP Commissioner John Farrow wasn’t exactly happy with Harrington, to say the least. “The allegations anger and disgust me,” Farrow told the outlet. “We expect the highest levels of integrity and moral strength from everyone in the California Highway Patrol, and there is no place in our organization for such behavior.”
According to Rains, Harrington resigned from the force, with the DUI charge against Jane Doe No. 1 having been dropped as a result of the investigation.
