TALLAHASSEE -- The Department of Juvenile Justice today announced the firings of 12 detention officers, including at least one supervisor, in a continuing investigation of employees using state computers to scan "inappropriate" Web sites, including some featuring pornography.
DJJ Secretary Frank Peterman said no children were exposed to the materials and that the images appeared to be of adults. He said the department's inspector general began the investigation about two weeks ago and that it is continuing.
State personnel rules forbid use of office computers for anything except official business. Employees can be fired, or even prosecuted, for violating the rules.
Peterman said an "isolated" group of officers at the St. Johns Regional Juvenile Detention Center was involved in "accessing inappropriate Web sites, some of which included adult sexually explicit images." Names of the fired employees were not immediately available but Peterman said they admitted viewing the materials.
"All images found so far are of adults. There are no sexual images of children," Peterman said at a news conference. "There has been no evidence to suggest that the safety of the children was compromised, nor do I believe that any children viewed these images."
