Investigators Caught More EPA Employees Viewing Porn on the Job
At least three Environmental Protection Agency employees were caught viewing pornography on the job, according to a new report by agency investigators.
EPA’s Office of Inspector General also reported a former agency employee, Floyd O’Hara, was sentenced to 38 months in prison and three years of supervised release for obstructing a child pornography investigation.
O’Hara pleaded guilty to obstructing the investigation last year.
“In 2016, O’Hara was indicted for possession of child pornography, conversion of government property and obstructing justice,” states the OIG report released Wednesday.
“The investigation determined that O’Hara had downloaded unauthorized software onto his EPA-issued laptop and deleted files relevant to the investigation,” OIG reported.
The report also outlined three cases where EPA employees, including one contractor, were caught with pornography at work.
Only the contractor was fired while one agency employee resigned and another challenged their suspension.
OIG’s report details investigations closed between October 2018 and March 2019.
Here’s what EPA investigators reported:
CASE NUMBER: OI-BO-2015-ADM-0058
An EPA GS-13 employee allegedly received, viewed and disseminated inappropriate materials, including adult pornography, to other EPA employees and individuals outside of the agency via an EPA email account. The investigation supported the allegations. EPA management suspended the employee for 14 days without pay, the employee challenged the suspension and the matter was settled through arbitration.
…
Advertisement - story continues belowCASE NUMBERS: OI-DE-2018-ADM-0063 and OI-DE-2019-ADM-0016
An EPA GS-12 employee allegedly conducted personal business during official work time. The employee also allegedly maintained pornographic images on an EPA computer. The investigations supported the allegations, and the employee resigned.
…
CASE NUMBER: OI-AR-2017-CFR-0001
Advertisement - story continues belowIt was alleged that a contract employee accessed pornographic and other nonwork-related websites while working on an EPA contract. The allegation was supported. The contract employee was terminated, and the contracting company issued a credit to the EPA for the contractor’s misused time.
It’s not the first time EPA employees have been caught watching pornography at work.
House lawmakers criticized EPA in 2014 for not firing an employee who spent years watching several hours of pornography at work.
That employee had 7,000 pornography files on his computer, and was caught watching porn when investigators paid him a visit.
That same year, EPA investigators told Congress an IT specialist was caught with child pornography, and then trying to delete it, that same year.
Thomas Manning was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison with five years of supervised release in 2015, officials said.
Another EPA employee was caught watching pornography on his computer by a child on “Bring Your Daughters To Work Day” at the agency, it was reported in 2016.
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