14 DAY TRIAL // John Hunt, a former Minnesota Department of Natural Resources employee accused of illegally accessing thousands of driver’s license records, has been charged with six counts. In addition, four of his victims have filed a class-action lawsuit against him.
According to Northland Newscenter, during a four-year period, Hunt accessed the records of more than 5,000 individuals over 19,000 times. The victims, most of them women, include judges, attorneys, reporters, police officers, and political officials.
Hunt has been charged with misconduct of public officer, unauthorized computer access, unlawful use of private data, and use of encryption to conceal commission of a crime.
It’s believed that the data hasn’t been misused, sold or disclosed to others, but the four women who have filed a class-action lawsuit against him argue that Hunt’s actions have caused severe emotional stress and physical harm.
The lawsuit also targets employees of the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Public Safety.
He has been dismissed from the Department of Natural Resources because he allegedly accessed the data while being off duty and for reasons unrelated to his job.