Veteran cop used restricted system to investigate a man he thought was with his wife
A child safety officer has pleaded guilty to computer hacking after he admitted to using a police system to find out details on his wife’s new partner.
North
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During a period of “marital distress” a veteran police officer used the police lookup system to investigate a man he believed his wife was seeing.
Detective Sergeant George Albert Germanos used the police records computer system, QPRIME, to look up details on a man up. after he saw a messages on his wife’s phone from that man.
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On Friday Germanos, 45, pleaded guilty at Pine Rivers Magistrates Court to computer hacking, after having looked up the man on QPRIME on February 21 and April 2.
The court heard Germanos, who worked child protection, was worried about the safety of his children due to the “emotive nature” of his work.
Less than a month after the second search Germanos told his boss about the illegal searches. The court heard police would not have known about them if he had not confessed.
Germanos’s lawyer Callan Lloyd said his client had “an oversensitivity” to the danger others posed to children due to working in child safety.
“The motivation for the searches is the concern for his family and children,” Mr Lloyd said.
Germanos and his wife have since reconciled.
Mr Lloyd said the offences were “an aberration” for Germanos who had never done anything similar.
The court heard Germanos had been a police officer for 25-year and has worked for in child protection 15 years.
Mr Lloyd said Germanos will face Queensland Police Service disciplinary action for the actions.
Magistrate Melanie Ho said Germanos’s actions were part of a “misguided attempt to protect” his family.
But she said his decision to self-report the crimes was a significant mitigating factor as they would have gone undetected if he had stayed silent.
Germanos was placed on a $1000 good behaviour bond for the next 12 months. A conviction was not recorded.