What would you do in this situation *unsettling content*

[Psyre]

So I work tech at staples. Today we have a computer come in for a data transfer, a brute of a man bought a new computer and wanted us to transfer files from his daughter's crashed pc over to the new one. My co worker began the transfer and while transferring the pictures noticed some extremely explicit pictures of the man's daughter, no older than 15. Sexually graphic doesn't begin to describe it, along with self mutilation etc. now there is no proof that it is the father who is responsible, other than the folder being called "daddy". After a short discussion between my co worker and I we quickly decided that obviously we should inform our manager. our manager was rather shook up, so she proceeded to call out GM who is on vacation this week, our General manager told her to call th district manager who said it was staples policy to do absolutely nothing, and he told us to not speak a word of it again to anyone. I honestly am ready to quit, but I have been looking for a job for months and nothing else has come up, and I can't afford to be unemployed.

What would you do?

[AxAxSxS]

Do what your conscience is telling you to do.

[FuzzHugger]

Umm, yeah. Fuck managers, I'd go straight to the police. You don't want to be an accessory to covering up potential abuse (and I know it's only potential)...but even from a non-legal standpoint, this girl needs some fucking help. I wouldn't feel comfortable telling a customer, "Hey, did you know there's graphic, disturbing pics of your daughter on this computer, and I saw them all?"...cause you might get punched, or accused of downloading them or some shit. But if the police were notified, they could contact the guy and maybe he could get her help. IDK...could you report this to police without your coworkers knowing it was you? Then again, if you get fired for doing the right thing...that's fucked, and as much as I dislike our sue-happy culture, I'd be visiting some lawyers, cause fuck this whole situation.

[MEC]

If it's his daughter's PC, he may have no idea what was on there.
It's not necessarily illegal for an underage person to have nude pics of them self on their PC.
If it wasn't anything illegal and it didn't seem forced then I'd say leave it alone.

If the dad was involved in the pics with the daughter, I'd make an anonymous call to the local police and DCF.

[ryan summit]

id say dss
or let the police sort it out
but when iwas 15
if a someone had got dss involved with me
i would have been sent away under state control
i was "fortunate" enough to be sent away by my folks
on the other hand
the fact that this dude is concerned
about saving the files scares me
wether he knows whats on the pc or not
just having to question it makes me sick
and you too im sure
sucks dude
moral conundrum
and yeah fuck staples
they can afford to have a problem solver on hand

[Psyre]

That's the whole thing, I don't know if he is involved but he was a fucking beast of a man and could kill me in 1 punch, and that is what my co worker is worried about, the fact that when the dad gets this new pc and sees the pics, if he isn't involved and we just saw them and transferred them, he could flip.

[jrmy]

I dunno man - I'd at least call the cops anonymously, and explain the dilemma.

[psychedelicrelic]

I would do nothing. I could not involve myself in lives that I do not care about. They may need help. It may be illegal. But its not my place. Disturbing as it may be, who are you to decide the fates of others that you will not ever be involved with again? ive personally witnessed horrors with my own eyes and ears that would make almost everone cringe. I did nothing except witness it and learned from it. I take it as the sickness of the world...and its everywhere. Who knows what you may be damning this child or father to...or yourself? What if the man had nothing to do with it and his daughter is taken and hblame is placed on him and is put in jail? If my job were on the line and I need the money to survive, why risk it? I would say the opposite if it was your family or friends family involved, but this is a stranger.

I completely agree with staples policy. Its to protect privacy and the safety of the employee and customer.

My only question is: why were files opened during a file transfer? Prying eyes? Being nosey? Theres no reason any file should have been viewed.

Ultimately, do what you feel is right. If you will feel regret from not reporting it, just report it. Peace of mind is most important.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I think I'd go to the police... Follow your conscience though, I don't know all the details, but these are really serious crimes so watch out whatever you do.

[Psyre]

The pictures were seen due to the file visibility format was set to extremely large thumbnails, and when hooking up a hard drive to the receiving computer, you essentially just have to copy and paste pictures, videos and documents out of one "my pictures/videos/documents into the new folder. There were numerous unopened folders as well as the loosely scattered images.

[greyscales]

I know it isn't a clear thing by any means, but personally I would report it. There's no reason for child porn to be on a family computer. If the guy is as big as you say he is, you would be better off letting the police handle it.
Staples is just trying not to lose customers by being nailed as a corporate NSA. It would look like you guys were snooping. But if it's child pornography, nobody is going to be that upset.

[psychedelicrelic]

The pictures were seen due to the file visibility format was set to extremely large thumbnails, and when hooking up a hard drive to the receiving computer, you essentially just have to copy and paste pictures, videos and documents out of one "my pictures/videos/documents into the new folder. There were numerous unopened folders as well as the loosely scattered images.

Thats what I figured was the most likely reason.

If you reported it to police anonymously, and the police retrieved the computer from staples, would your coworker also lose their job along with you?

[wsas3]

I would do nothing. I could not involve myself in lives that I do not care about. They may need help. It may be illegal. But its not my place. Disturbing as it may be, who are you to decide the fates of others that you will not ever be involved with again? ive personally witnessed horrors with my own eyes and ears that would make almost everone cringe. I did nothing except witness it and learned from it. I take it as the sickness of the world...and its everywhere. Who knows what you may be damning this child or father to...or yourself? What if the man had nothing to do with it and his daughter is taken and hblame is placed on him and is put in jail? If my job were on the line and I need the money to survive, why risk it? I would say the opposite if it was your family or friends family involved, but this is a stranger.

I completely agree with staples policy. Its to protect privacy and the safety of the employee and customer.

My only question is: why were files opened during a file transfer? Prying eyes? Being nosey? Theres no reason any file should have been viewed.

Ultimately, do what you feel is right. If you will feel regret from not reporting it, just report it. Peace of mind is most important.

Better safe than sorry... This is a very common thing actually, and the police know how to pursue it to be as sure as possible as to what it is.
This was published today. I hope it influences your decision. http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/justice/c ... r_facebook
There are laws protecting you if you decide to whistle blow.
What is potentially going is FAR worse than what you consider 'damning' the child or father to... If you see this as the sickness of the world and let it go on because you're jaded by it... YOU'RE the sickness of the world.

[bigchiefbc]

I don't know man. The problem with calling the police is that they're definitely gonna go arrest the guy, whether he has anything to do with it or not. Police don't reserve judgment and dispassionately review the evidence before acting. They immediately act, regardless of evidence, every time. All cops do this, especially with an abuse or child porn charge. And once someone is charged with child porn or child abuse, our society pretty much considers him guilty no matter what.

So maybe he's an abusive fuck. Or maybe he's not. At the very least, he's gonna be out tens of thousands of dollars of legal bills. Either way, he's gonna be bankrupt and his life is completely ruined. So you could be saving a girl from horrific abuse, or you could be potentially ruining a completely innocent person's life.

I don't think I'd call the police unless I saw proof her dad was involved in the pictures.

[wsas3]

I know that they wouldn't just lock him up without investigating it