Man Faces Jail Time for Snooping Through Wife's Email Account

A Michigan man had criminal charges brought against him after he accessed his wife's email account and sharing the messages inside with the woman's first husband.

Leon Walker, 33, of Rochester Hills, was charged with one felony count of unlawful access to confidential data after he snooped through his wife's emails to check his suspicion of her having an affair.

It turns out that she was, but according to Walker, the identify of the person she was being unfaithful with is what upset him the most.

Leon claims his now former wife Clara was having an affair with her second ex-husband, a man who was once arrested for beating her in front of her young son.

Allegedly concerned for the well being of the child, Walker then decided to share the emails with the boy's father, the woman's first husband, who immediately filed for custody.

The Detroit Free Press quotes several attorneys who have serious doubts about the merits of this criminal case, as the act was performed from a family computer and therefore a common good.

"I would guess there is enough gray area to suggest that she could not have an absolute expectation of privacy," added Frederick Lane, an electronic privacy expert.

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper disagrees and sais that he used his computer skills to carry out the snooping. Leon Walker works as a computer technician for the county.

"It was password protected, he had wonderful skills, and was highly trained. Then he downloaded them and used them in a very contentious way," Cooper said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Walker maintains that her email password was written in a small book kept next to the computer and that all he had to do was to read it.

It will be interesting to see how this case proceeds, because according to various reports, as much as 45% of divorce cases include claims of invasion of privacy involving electronic messages.