A tip from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) after its software detected child pornography inside a user’s Gmail account has led to a user being charged with child pornography possession, a report from KHOU 11 in Houston, Texas reveals.
According to the report from the CBS-affiliated channel, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Gmail user John Henry Skillern was arrested after an investigation over his Gmail account stemming from a tip from the web giant.
The tip was reportedly sent by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The 41-year-old man, who was once convicted of sexually assaulting a child 20 years ago, has been arrested. Working at a Denny’s in Pasadena, the man is said to have also taken images and videos of children dining in the restaurant.
In the report, Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce Detective David Nettles said that Skillern “was trying to get around getting caught” by “trying to keep” his alleged illegal activity “inside his email”.
Furthermore, the detective hinted that without the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) tip, they would not have been able to detect any of the alleged illegal activity of the man. The detective said that he would not have any idea of the activity supposedly done by the man if the tip from the web search and advertising giant did not come.
After the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) tip, authorities got a warrant and were able to find the child pornography inside the man’s email account and cellphone, the report notes.
Meanwhile, a neighbor of the man was also interviewed by the KHOU correspondent who made the report. The neighbor is quoted in the report saying that Skillern seemed like a “nice, normal man”. However, given the report, the neighbor said that she wants to cry because her children occasionally play outside and she does not know whether Skillern was watching them.
Watch the report below.
Disclosure: None
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