How Child Pornographers Got Themselves Caught

We should be thankful that some of the sickest people on the planet aren't savvy with their tech devices, otherwise they wouldn't be behind bars where they belong.

More often these days do we learn about used computers and cell phones that get sent away only for others to discover photographic evidence of illegal acts.

One comes from Michael Comte, a 32-year-old Tacoma resident, who allegedly donated the cell phone he used to photograph and video the molestation of a 3-year-old girl he was babysitting for a friend.

Comte donated the phone to Goodwill, where one of the foundation's workers took the phone for personal use. The Goodwill worker found the material on the phone and contacted the police. Comte pleaded not guilty and had bail set at $500,000. Read more at KiroTV.

Other instances have child pornographers sending in computers for repair. One of the latest comes from Windsor, Ontario, where a computer repair shop received a machine from 37-year-old Bryan Gregory Abbott, who allegedly had enough child pornography on it for the police to seize the PC. Read more at the Windsor Star.

Perhaps the dumbest criminal was 46-year-old Daniel J. Wagner of Sheboygan, WI who took his computer into Best Buy for repair because it has viruses and wasn't working properly. The technician assigned to fixing his machine found that this desktop wallpaper was child pornographic in nature, so he attempted to change it to something else because he was working in a public area of the store. When browsing through the My Pictures folder, the technician found 67 images of child pornography depicting children as young as 3 years old. The police arrested Wagner when he arrived back at the store to pick up his computer. Read more at Sheboyganpress.

Marcus Yam is a technology evangelist for Intel Corporation, the latest in a long line of tech-focused roles spanning a more than 20-year career in the industry. As Executive Editor, News on Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, Marcus was responsible for shaping the sites' news output, and he also spent a period as Editor of Outdoors & Sports at Digital Trends.