Expert: Chris Wagoner - 1/20/2012

Question
Hi my name is Jo ,
And I'm going through a very nasty divorce was married for 18 yrs to
A very mean man who would beat me and our children all the time , I had no where to go until a friend told me it's ok to just take my kids and go before he killed me so I did and now I'm fighting to get divorced but I just found out he broke into mine and my daughters personal private email accounts and took my emails and photos from them to use against me In court .. So I guess what I need to know is ? Can I do anything to him and his lawyer for doing this to me and my daughter ? And also after doing this he deleted our accounts without mine or her permission how he got our passwords still bug me alot but I need to know if I can put charges on him and his lawyer or no for breaking into a personal private email .. Ok thank you hope you can helpus out please.. And I live in the state of pa

Answer
Good morning Jo,

What he has done is illegal and he cannot use the illegally obtained documents or information in court. You need to notify your attorney that this has happened, as these are called in the legal world fruits of the poisonous tree. You are not allowed to use illegally obtained information in court against someone just like police are not able to use illegally obtained confessions in court against someone.

Back to what he has done, is against the law in the state of Pennsylvania to do this under section 7606 of the Pennsylvania law and you need to report this to the police it is a fairly easy case for them to follow up on.

Here is the Pennsylvania law that was broken:
§ 7611.  Unlawful use of computer and other computer crimes.
(a)  Offense defined.--A person commits the offense of unlawful use of a computer if he:

(1)  accesses or exceeds authorization to access, alters, damages or destroys any computer, computer system, computer network, computer software, computer program, computer database, World Wide Web site or telecommunication device or any part thereof with the intent to interrupt the normal functioning of a person or to devise or execute any scheme or artifice to defraud or deceive or control property or services by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises;

(2)  intentionally and without authorization accesses or exceeds authorization to access, alters, interferes with the operation of, damages or destroys any computer, computer system, computer network, computer software, computer program, computer database, World Wide Web site or telecommunication device or any part thereof; or

(3)  intentionally or knowingly and without authorization gives or publishes a password, identifying code, personal identification number or other confidential information about a computer, computer system, computer network, computer database, World Wide Web site or telecommunication device.

Call the police as soon as possible to report the crime and yes you can press charges against him. This also should aid you in your divorce case, but make sure that you notify your attorney and let them know exactly what's going on.

I hope this all works out well for you and I'm very sorry that you're going through troubling times.