Man kept child porn at county job, police say
Man had child porn at county job, police say
A former Clark County employee was arrested Monday on charges of
downloading more than 400 images of child pornography on his computer
at the county Public Works Department.
The downloads apparently unleashed a virus that crippled the county's
Internet system in August.
Carl Stanley Lobsien, 50, is facing 25 counts of possession of child
pornography. He was being held this morning in the Clark County
Detention Center on $75,000 bail.
A county employee since 1978, Lobsien was fired from his job as an
engineering technician Sept. 9 after officials found the images on his
computer, Erik Pappa, county spokesman, said.
"We were a little dismayed not only by his actions but by the amount
of images he was able to download," Pappa said.
The images consisted of nude girls under the age of 16, and some
showed them in sex acts with adult men, according to the police report
obtained by the Sun.
The downloaded pornography led to at least one of the
"denial-of-service" attacks on the county's computer system last
summer, when the network crashed on several occasions because of
viruses, the police report says.
Clark County's website, www.accessclarkcounty.com may be the most
visited in the state of Nevada, according to county officials. The
website attracted nearly 9 million visitors last July.
Last summer, at the time that police say Lobsien's downloading brought
with it a virus that crashed the county system, the county's computer
specialists were dealing with several different viruses and scrambling
to apply "patches," or cyber-vaccinations, to the system.
Part of the problem, according to county employees then, was that the
Clark County system was tied in a network with other computer systems
for other local government agencies, including Metro's.
In those incidents, staffs at the various agencies disconnected links
between the networks to isolate the problems. While Lobsien's imported
virus could have disrupted the county's system Aug. 27, an attack
apparently caused by another virus occurred Sept. 10, a day after the
county had fired him.
That computer problem shut down outside access for residents and
others seeking county information for most of the day. Similar
problems a few weeks earlier is what prompted county staff to look
for, and ultimately isolate, the problem to Lobsien's computer.
"The network was really slow so our technicians took a look at what
was happening," Pappa said. "We're pretty happy that the computer
technicians were able to locate the problem."
After county officials found the porn, they notified Detective Michael
Castaneda of Metro's sexual assault unit and he began his
investigation.
Castaneda seized Lobsien's work computer and obtained a warrant that
permitted an officer with the Nevada Department of Public Safety's
Nevada Cyber Crimes Task Force to conduct a forensic examination of
it.
Police on Oct. 9 searched Lobsien's home near Rainbow Boulevard and
Cheyenne Avenue for any possible child pornography, the police report
says. However, no computer was found.
"Lobsien stated he was told by a member of his labor union to remove
anything that might be connected to this investigation from his
residence," the report says.
Representatives with the local chapter of the Service Employees
International union did not return several phone calls on Tuesday and
today seeking comment on Lobsien.
A warrant was issued Dec. 3 for Lobsien's arrest. He was taken into
custody at his home about 9:40 p.m. Monday.
Although more than 400 pornographic images were found, Sgt. Russ
Shoemaker of Metro's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force said
he felt charging him with 25 counts was sufficient.
Lobsien had no disciplinary actions taken against him in his 26 years
as a county employee, Pappa said. He had no criminal record in Nevada
prior to this arrest, the police report says.
Pappa said apparently no one in the Public Works Department was aware
that Lobsien was downloading pornography in his county cubicle, which
like many in the Clark County Government Center is in a relatively
open area. Lobsien did land surveying but carried out his duties from
his work station rather than in the field. He didn't have any contact
with the public.
"He was pretty adept at hiding what he was doing," Pappa said. "He was
able to get away with it for quite a while without any of his
co-workers knowing about it."
Since the incident, the county has installed filtering software that
prevents easy access to potentially pornographic websites, he said.
Those who are drawn to child pornography will risk their jobs,
personal safety or even their freedom to view it, Shoemaker said.
"Basically this is a needs-driven activity," he said. "Its very
similar to a substance addiction. They can't not do it and when the
opportunity presents itself they will succumb to it."
