Man Takes Gravy-Stained Computer To Best Buy, Gets Arrested For Child Porn

A little spilled gravy led to an Iowa man’s arrest on Wednesday.

Des Moines police took Robert L. Watson into custody and charged him with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.

The arrest stemmed from an incident last August when Watson, 54, spilled gravy on his computer and decided to replace it at Best Buy. After buying a new laptop, he paid store employees to transfer files from the old computer to the new model, local station WHO TV reported.

Best Buy “Geek Squad” members saw what looked like child porn videos on Watson’s computer, so they contacted Des Moines Police. Officers collected both computers after the transfer was completed, according to a criminal complaint obtained by BuzzFeed.

When police questioned Watson, he allegedly described several images that detectives later found on his computer, including of children about 4 and 5 years old, the complaint said.

“Robert advised that he downloaded the images because he wanted to tell other people about them,” police wrote.

Watson is at the Polk County Jail in lieu of a $50,000 cash bond. His next court date is scheduled for May 10.