
Updated at 6:43 p.m.
By Eric Roper and David Chanen
Criminal charges have been filed against a former state employee accused of breaching thousands of drivers license files, largely on women.
Prosecutors said in charges filed against John Hunt, who worked for the Department of Natural Resources, that he made 11,747 queries of the protected data while he was off duty and kept an encrypted file on his work computer containing drivers license photographs of 172 women.
Hunt (in the foreground at right) is charged with six counts, including misconduct of a public employee, unauthorized computer access, encrypting data to conceal a crime and unlawful use of private data. All of them are gross misdemeanors or misdemeanors.
Many of Hunt's queries were on high-profile women, including politicians, judges, county and city attorneys, police officers and female news reporters. An investigation found that 94 percent of Hunt's 18,844 total person queries over nearly five years were on women. That figure includes queries to "probe deeper into an individual's DVS record," the complaint said.
Investigators learned that Hunt conducted drivers license queries on a TV anchorwoman "following the scheduled ending of the TV anchorwoman's broadcast." In addition to the file of 172 photographs, investigators found an additional 26 license photographs elsewhere on Hunt's computer.
The state's driver and vehicle services (DVS) database, which contains photographs, addresses, and driving records on Minnesotans with a license, is protected by state and federal law against illegitimate use. State records show that misuse of the database is common, but criminal charges are rare.