Leon Walker, 33, is being charged under a state statute that prohibits unlawful access to a computer system, program or network. Walker admitted that he rummaged through his wife’s e-mail, but said he strongly believes he didn’t break any laws.
“What don’t you share in a marital home? She asked me to read her e-mails before. She gave me the passwords before; she didn’t hide it,” Walker said.
While in the middle of their divorce, Walker, a computer technician with Oakland County said his wife’s e-mails revealed her affair with her second husband.
Walker said his wife’s second husband had been arrested on accusations that he abused her.
Worried for his daughter’s safety, Walker said he turned the e-mails over to his wife’s first husband, with whom she also shares a child.
“He took action with the courts to have their son protected, and I took action with the courts to have my daughter protected,” Walker said.
Walker’s wife, Claire, called police after the e-mails were turned over.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office then charged Walker with a five-year felony.
“I find it so hard to believe that the legislature would enact a law and say ‘You know what, if husbands and wives are reading each other’s e-mails, that’s a priority for us, we have to stop that,'” Walker’s attorney, Leon Weiss said.
Sources told Local 4 that the prosecuting attorney stands by her decision to charge Walker.
He maintains he was only protecting his child.
“It’s a burning house. You either kick the door open or you let it burn. I did what I felt was absolutely necessary,” Walker said.
At the time of the incident, Walker and his wife were living together and sharing a home computer.
They have since divorced.
Walker will head to trial in February.
Source: Detroit Free Press
