“Stick to the assignment, the whole assignment, and nothing but the assignment,” my major professor had always told me.
After several hours of research with the help of specialized open source search tools, I was able to bring up a set of e-mails which I then proceeded to analyze: X had written to Y, whose response was copied to Z, etc. On my notepad, a communication network had begun to emerge...two, in fact. One contained exchanges which included certain pedophilia-themed e-mails; the other was a set of e-mails discussing medical topics.
Doctors? Involved in a pedophile ring? But then why the two separate networks?
I took a closer look at the dates of both the current and deleted files on the hard drive. Further analysis, assisted by police findings, revealed that the computer had begun its trajectory in a hospital and was then sold second-hand, eventually winding up in the possession of a pedophile. Of course, the data that had been deleted before the computer was sold was still on the hard drive.
I had almost included in my report people with no relation whatsoever to the case.
But what about “the assignment, the whole assignment, and nothing but the assignment?” Mine had been fairly clearly to provide a list of ALL e-mail addresses found on the hard drive.
I consulted the examining magistrate, who left it up to me: follow the assignment strictly or go out on a limb and report my findings selectively.
So I took a risk and made the executive decision to include only the first set of e-mail addresses. The Outreau Affair never ceases to haunt.
Still, whenever I think back on it, I feel a shiver in my spine – perhaps from lingering perspiration.
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Translation by Jennifer.
Photo credit Australian Childhood Fondation
The original note is here: http://zythom.blogspot.fr/2007/03/un-rseau-bien-hospitalier.html
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