A suspected cyber-criminal has been placed under arrest in Connecticut following a tip-off from workers at a computer repair store.
Technicians at Guildford-based company Nerds To Go called the cops after allegedly detecting illegal images and videos on a computer belonging to 67-year-old Anthony Bruno of East Haven, Connecticut.
Bruno had brought his device into the locally owned and operated computer repair and IT support company in June 2021 because he had been unable to turn it on.
According to an affidavit written about the case by Officer Cassandra Lall, the technicians tested the device and transferred the files stored on it onto a separate hard drive. They then reinstalled the computer’s Windows operating system and moved the files back onto Bruno’s device.
In keeping with the Nerds To Go protocol, one of the technicians opened a few of the moved files to ensure that they had been transferred back onto the customer’s device without being corrupted.
In the affidavit, Lall wrote that “once the computer was powered back on, he [the technician] observed a file on the ‘Desktop’ that was titled ‘Funtimes Folder Copy’ that contained a video or MP4 file. The file had a thumbnail of what looked like a male penis.”
Lall stated that the technician “then observed a second thumbnail of what looked like a small child, possibly 11 years old and that he believed the file was labeled ‘11 YO’.”
The technician and his manager watched the video for a few seconds and then called police. Law enforcement officers undertook a search of Bruno’s device and the hard drive used by Nerds To Go technicians in the repair of Bruno’s device was undertaken by law enforcement officers.
It is alleged that 730 unique images and videos depicting child sexual abuse were recovered during the search.
Guildford police arrested Bruno on December 21 and charged him with first-degree possession of child pornography. Bruno was arraigned and released on a $20,000 surety bond, according to judicial records.
Bruno has not yet entered a plea regarding the charge. He is due to go before the court on February 3, 2022.