Gravy-Covered Laptop Leads To Child Porn Bust

MAY 2--An Iowa man facing child porn charges was arrested after he brought a “gravy covered computer” into Best Buy for repairs and a “Geek Squad” member discovered illicit images on the machine, according to a court filing.

Investigators say Robert Leo Watson, 54, last year brought his laptop to a Best Buy near his Des Moines home “because he had spilled gravy on the keyboard rendering this device unusable.”

Watson, seen above, purchased a replacement computer and “paid an additional fee to have the files on his used gravy covered computer transferred to his newly purchased computer," reported a Des Moines Police Department investigator.

During the file migration, “Geek Squad” workers noticed “multiple images being transferred that they believed contained child pornography.” The Best Buy workers contacted cops, who seized both computers as evidence.

In a subsequent police interview, Watson reportedly admitted to downloading images of “4 and 5 year olds” that he felt “were about to have sex.” He claimed to have downloaded the photos “because he wanted to tell other people about them.”

Watson, who saved the images under file names like “13 year old” and “14 year old” was charged in late-April with ten counts of possessing depictions of minors engaged in sex acts.    

Locked up in the Polk County jail on $50,000 cash bond, Watson is scheduled for a May 10 preliminary hearing on the felony charges. (2 pages)