Wa State Computer Trespass Laws

[Aveneil]

I live in WA state my ex partner is currently on probation for harassment and assault of me.  I recently unpacked and old computer we owned jointly and when I booted it up his email logged in!  I was greeted with my Myspace page on one of the previews which shocked me since he is under a criminal no contact order!  Since it was logged in and my intentions were not to access it though I did investigate why my pictures was on though and discovered definitive proof of stalking.  Would you say I did commit a crime or not?

[Julius]

Good morning Stan,

In Washington state there are different levels of computer trespass. There are both misdemeanor and felony levels pending upon what was done. One of the main issues with any crime is that it usually(99%) of the time needs to be intentional. The fact you say you did not intentionally access the information is one thing, but where you went and stepped over the line was when you once knowing what you were looking at was not yours, continued to investigate further and that then becomes a crime.

While I doubt very seriously that you will be or should be prosecuted for this, you need to understand that you should not access anyone elses accounts or information without expressed permission from that person or company.

This is one of those areas where it would more than likely be up to the State Attorneys' Office to decide if prosecution was needed, but I doubt it.

The only way that you would be prosecuted also is if the other party files a complaint and knows what you did.

Hope that answers your question. Yes you technically violated the law, but I doubt that any prosecution will come of it.