A phone repair technician who allegedly accessed a customer’s private files on her device and sent himself a copy of an explicit video she had stored on it is now facing charges.
The female customer took her iPhone in for repair at “I-Fix”, 2221 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte.
She left her device with the employee for approximately two hours to be repaired.
During that time, the Sheriff's Office said the individual browsed the customer's personal files and discovered an explicit video of the victim saved to the device. That individual then texted the file to his own personal phone.
The following day, the victim discovered the sent message and found that the video had been also deleted from her device. This led her to contact the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office to make a report.
Using the phone number to which the message was sent, deputies were able to track it back to the employee, identified as Cody Austin Terry, 28, of North Port.
Terry spoke with the investigator and agreed to allow a search of his phone. He also informed the deputy that if he had such a file saved on his phone, it would be located in a hidden folder and guided the deputy in locating that folder.
Once it was opened, Terry quickly pointed out the video in question from among several others of the same type in the folder. The file information of the video revealed that it had been saved to his phone on the same day that the victim took her phone in for repair, and during the time frame in which she had left it at the business.
Terry signed a waiver to allow deputies to download his phone contents as part of their investigation. This allowed investigators to verify that the file had been sent to Terry’s phone number from the victim’s phone number on the day and time during which the victim’s device was in for repair.
“When we engage the service of a company, we have an expectation of trust that the job will be done and our privacy protected. This young man not only violated that trust, but also broke the law," Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said. "I encourage everyone to be cautious with your personal files on your electronic devices, because once they get out, there is no telling how far they can go.”
Following the investigation, Terry was arrested and taken to Charlotte County Jail. He was released on $5,000 bond and is scheduled for a court appearance in January 2023.
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