Hey, Ohio police, stop snooping on celebrities and start minding your own business!
Michael Becker/AP IMAGES
It’s been revealed that cops, an assistant city prosecutor and others with both access and questionable ethics, improperly accessed the personal records of American Idol runner-up (and Toledo native) Crystal Bowersox while she was competing on the show.
Obviously, someone—a few someones, actually—wanted to dig up some dirt on the bluesy songbird.
According to the Toledo Blade, employees of five different local governmental agencies, including the sheriff’s department, a Bureau of Motor Vehicles clerk, the city attorney’s office, and an office administered by the attorney general’s office all variously tapped into confidential state databases a total of eight times in a one month period to check on a possible criminal record, driving infractions, and cars registered in Bowersox’s name.
The word you’re looking for is creepy.
“I had no idea it happened,” the 25-year-old reality star alum told the paper. “I’m disgusted by it.”
The breaches were discovered by an Ohio State Highway Patrol official, of all people, who decided to audit for suspicious checks after she became a finalist on the show, just to make sure there had been no improper peeking.
Those found to be at fault were given punishments ranging from two-week employer suspensions to written reprimands, though Bowersox told the paper she did not intend to file any lawsuits, though one man, the DMV clerk, has been charged with illegally snooping and unauthorized use of property and could face a year in prison. » Read more: Why Were Cops Snooping on Idol’s Crystal Bowersox?
