Rochester, New York - Suspended deputy convicted of felony eavesdropping
April 24, 2007
Rochester, New York. (AP) A suspended sheriff's deputy was convicted Tuesday of felony eavesdropping for his unsanctioned investigation with computer spyware of a neighbor.
State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Sirkin also convicted Investigator R. Michael Hildreth of misdemeanor official misconduct. He was acquitted of felony third-degree computer trespassing against the man he thought posed a threat to young girls in their suburban Rochester neighborhood.
Hildreth, 45, could face up to four years in prison at sentencing June 26. In 1999, he became one of the first Monroe County deputies assigned full-time to a computer crimes unit.
Prosecutors said Hildreth in 2005 sent Penfield neighbor James Missel an email about potential job prospects with an attachment that, when opened, planted the spyware program Blaster on Missel's computer, allowing the investigator to monitor every keystroke, Web site visited and chat room entered on the computer.
Hildreth also left a computer disk in his neighbor's mailbox, purportedly from the same potential employer, with the same job information. When inserted in the computer's disc drive, it also downloaded the spyware.
Hildreth was been suspended without pay from the sheriff's office since his arrest in June 2006.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Monaghan said a follow-up investigation turned up no evidence of wrongdoing by Missel, who had volunteered for more than 30 years with a private school.
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