(The Center Square) – State and local law enforcement officials are assisting the Colorado Judicial Branch in investigating people disrupting court proceedings by showing pornography during live streams.
The incidents were confirmed by the Colorado Judicial Branch. KRDO reported a person exposed themselves on a livestream camera in recent weeks and others showed pornography and explicit audio recordings during legal proceedings.
“In recent weeks, courtrooms across Colorado have been disrupted by elicit and pornographic displays during virtual proceedings using the Judicial Webex platform,” Suzanne Karrer, chief communications officer for the State Court Administrator’s Office in the Colorado Judicial Branch, said in a statement to The Center Square. “The Information Technology division of the Judicial Branch is actively engaged in efforts to pinpoint the responsible parties or systems behind these random occurrences across various jurisdictions in Colorado.”
People disrupting the courtroom sessions are posing as law enforcement officers or official media outlets to get access to private and secure livestreams, KRDO reported. The courts have no tools to turn off a camera or verify the identity of someone when they join a court livestream proceeding, according to KRDO.
“Judicial districts and branch personnel are collaborating with state and local law enforcement officials to investigate these egregious attacks on our legal system,” Karrer said. “These incidents are being treated with utmost seriousness, and measures are being implemented to ensure the continued accessibility of both virtual and physical court proceedings while protecting participants from inappropriate and offensive content.”
The General Assembly passed and Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed into law House Bill 23-1182 last year, which required all courts in the state to provide remote access to the public to observe any criminal court proceeding conducted in open court with some exceptions. The law exempts those courts without the technological capability for live streaming. The law allows courtrooms to exclude members of the public from viewing proceedings if a court order is issued or if the court determines the public broadcast will compromise the defendant’s right to a fair trial or threaten the safety of any party. Juvenile proceedings are excluded from the law.
Colorado law states a cybercrime is committed if a person knowingly “accesses a computer, computer network, or computer system or any part thereof without authorization; exceeds authorized access to a computer, computer network, or computer system or any part thereof; or uses a computer, computer network, or computer system or any part thereof without authorization or in excess of authorized access…” The offense is considered a class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.