Actually, that's the *second* case (from http://www.getreading.co.uk/story.asp?intid=6541): Program put child porn pics on my PC Karl Schofield walked free from court yesterday after prosecutors accepted an expert's report that the "Trojan" program could have saved the 14 depraved images off the internet without his knowledge. His legal team believe it is the first time the reason has been used. Yesterday's acquittal ended almost two years of hell for Mr Schofield, a communications engineer who left Reading after he was attacked by vigilantes. He told the Evening Post: "I am relieved because it has been an awful two years. "I knew I would be found not guilty. It was ridiculous because there was not one dirty mag or dirty video in the house I was living in with my dad, mum and wife." A Trojan, named after the mythical Trojan horse, is a remote program which can allow someone else to download information on to your computer without your knowledge. An expert found the Trojan on Mr Schofield's computer alongside the child pornography images and prosecutors yesterday accepted his report. Mr Schofield had denied making indecent images of children and prosecutor Nadia Chbat told Judge Stanley Spence: "The Crown would not be able to say he is the only person who knew of these images on his computer." Mr Schofield denied any interest in pornography and said the Trojan program could have infected his computer either through an e-mail or the advertising screens that automatically pop up through some internet sites. "The specialist found the day before the images were downloaded the program was implemented, so there's a direct correlation between them," Mr Schofield said. "I had no clue about them." The 39-year-old was attacked in his home in Buckland Road, Whitley, last August following reports that he had been charged. A terrified Mr Schofield spent a month hiding in his home, with friends and family bringing him food, and he also kept his distance from his two children from his previous marriage because of the stigma. Mr Schofield, who has worked for the defence industry as a £500-a-day contractor, also lost out on work. Speaking about his nightmare, he said: "THe public view of this offence is quite violent. "My friends and family stood by me but I hope it puts people's minds at rest there's not a pervert sat in Whitley." -----Original Message----- <snip>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Aug 11 2003 - 11:12:13 PDT