Man Turns Himself In For Child Porn, Was Ordered By Computer Virus

There are just some things that sound so odd that it’s impossible to believe it wasn’t made up. Such is the case for a Virginia man who turned himself in for child porn after his computer virus told him to.

The man in question is 21-year old Jay Matthew Riley, who reportedly showed up at his local police station after his computer popped up with an alarming message that read: “FBI Warning message.”

Riley decided that, upon hearing a noise that said to pay a fine or risk criminal investigation by the FBI, he would just have better luck turning himself in.

Of course, anyone else would suspect that this would be a virus or a pesky pop up ad, but Riley wasn’t looking to mess around with law enforcers. The young man decided to bring his computer with him to the police station so they can go through the computer for his illegal activity.

What the police uncovered on Riley’s search were several photos of underage girls and at least one correspondence with a 13-year-old girl.

After perusing the man’s system, police discovered that the message he received wasn’t real and was in fact a virus, which is said to be a year-old scam.

According to the FBI, this virus is known as “drive-by” malware. Once the computer is infected by the virus, the computer locks and the screen states that there has been a violation of the federal law. Donna Gregory of the Internet Crime Complaint center said of its popular: “We’re getting inundated with complaints.”

In the end, Riley was charged with three counts of child pornography possession, a count for using a device to solicit offensive material involving children, and indecent behavior involving a minor.

Currently the man is being held without bond, and his court date has not yet been released to the public.

[Image credit – right: Ruslan Grumble / Shutterstock]