Iowa man arrested after Geek Squad finds child porn on gravy-covered laptop, police say

Robert Leo Watson, 54, was arrested Wednesday after Geek Squad employees found child porn on his gravy-covered laptop, court documents said. (Polk County Jail)

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa man was arrested Wednesday for possession of child porn after he spilled gravy on his laptop and brought it to Best Buy for technical support, court documents show.

Robert Leo Watson, 54, brought the computer to Best Buy's Geek Squad repair desk in August 2018 after spilling gravy on it, according to an April criminal complaint obtained by the Des Moines Register. As employees were transferring Watson's old files from the "gravy covered computer" to a new device, they spotted what they believed to be child porn, the complaint said.

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Police collected both computers as evidence, and Watson was arrested Wednesday morning, officials said. He is facing 10 counts of child porn possession.

According to documents, Watson admitted to saving images with file names such as "13 year old" and "14 year old's." Watson also told police of photos showing "4 and 5 year olds that Robert felt were about to have sex.” He claimed to have downloaded the images “because he wanted to tell other people about them,” the documents said.

Watson was booked into the Polk County Jail with a $50,000 cash bond. He is due in court May 10.


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Brian is an Associate Producer for ClickOnDetroit. He graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a degree in Journalism and Screen Studies.