Man is jailed for failing to give police a working password to his smartphone
A Florida man accused of child abuse was jailed for failing to give police a working password to his smartphone.
Christopher Wheeler, 41, of Hollywood, Florida, was found in contempt of court earlier this month and sentenced to 180 days in jail on Tuesday, report the Miami Herald and the Washington Times.
Police had hoped to find photographs on Wheeler’s phone that would provide evidence he had scratched and bruised his daughter. Wheeler was arrested while in Broward Circuit Court in Fort Lauderdale.
A defendant in a second Florida case fared better than Wheeler after he was ordered to provide a password to his phone so authorities could check it for evidence of an extortion plot, according to the Miami Herald.
The defendant, Wesley Victor, was accused along with reality television star Hencha Voigt of threatening to release sex videos of a social media celebrity. Victor said he couldn’t remember his password, and the judge said there was no evidence to disprove the claim more than 10 months after Victor’s arrest.
Voight produced a password but it didn’t work. She is facing a contempt charge.
