MOORHEAD - A search of a file-sharing network that police say led them to find child pornography on the computer of a former Moorhead school bus driver was legal, a Clay County judge ruled today.
The images and videos of child pornography police allege they found on the computer of Eric Gunnar Johnson were found on a public file-sharing network before a search warrant was issued.
His lawyer argued Johnson had an expectation of privacy on that network, comparing it to a Supreme Court ruling barring the warrantless use of thermal imagery scanners.
Rejecting the argument, Clay County District Court Judge Lisa Borgen said he had no reason to expect his files on a public network to be private.
Johnson, 50, is facing 13 felony counts of possessing child pornography.
