Phone Repair Tech Accessed Explicit Video On Client's Phone: CCSO

PORT CHARLOTTE, FL — A phone repair technician illegally accessed a customer’s private files on her device and sent himself a copy of an explicit video she had stored on it, according to a Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office news release.

A woman recently brought her iPhone in for repair at I-Fix, 2221 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte, leaving her device with an employee for about two hours. During that time, the employee — Cody Austin Terry — browsed her personal files and discovered an explicit video of the victim saved to the device, which he texted to his own cell phone, the sheriff’s office said.

The next day, the victim discovered the sent message and found that the video had also been deleted from her phone, CCSO said. She filed a report with the sheriff’s office and deputies were able to track the text back to Terry, 28, of North Port.

Terry spoke with a sheriff’s office investigator and agreed to allow a search of his phone. He also told the deputy that if he had such a file saved on his phone, it would be in a hidden folder, and showed the investigator how to access that folder.

The video found in that hidden folder was saved to his phone the same day that the victim took her iPhone in for repair and during the timeframe she left it at the business, the sheriff’s office said.

Terry signed a waiver allowing deputies to download his phone contents as part of their investigation. This allowed investigators to verify that the file had been sent to his phone number from the victim’s phone number on the day and time during which the victim’s device was in for repair, according to CCSO.

Terry was arrested, charged and booked into Charlotte County Jail, the sheriff’s office said. He was released on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled for a court appearance in January.