TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Sarasota County phone repair technician was arrested after he sent himself a copy of an explicit video stored on a customer’s device, according to authorities.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said 28-year-old Cody Terry, of North Port, “illegally accessed” files on a woman’s device after she brought her iPhone in for repair at “I-Fix”, located at 2221 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte.
The woman told authorities she left her phone with Terry for about two hours to be repaired. During that time, deputies said Terry browsed through the woman’s personal files and discovered an explicit video of the woman.
Terry then texted the file to his own personal phone.
The next day, the woman discovered the sent message and found the video had also been deleted from her device.
Using the phone number the file was sent to, deputies were able to track it back to Terry.
Terry allowed investigators to search his phone and told the deputy if he had such a file saved on his phone, it would be located in a hidden folder.
Once the hidden folder was opened, Terry pointed out the video in question from “among several others of the same type” in the folder, deputies said.
The file information revealed it was saved to his phone the same day the victim took her phone in for repair, and during the time frame she had left it at the business.
“When we engage the service of a company, we have an expectation of trust that the job will be done and our privacy protected,” Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said. “This young man not only violated that trust, but also broke the law. I encourage everyone to be cautious with your personal files on your electronic devices, because once they get out, there is no telling how far they can go.”
Following an investigation, Terry was arrested and transported to the Charlotte County Jail where he was released on $5,000 bond.
