Reported AdventHealth Nurse Charged With Possession of Child Porn, Tampering with Computer Systems
-
- Police found child porn on the computer of Brandon Diaz, who said he worked for AdventHealth.
- Diaz is under investigation for hacking computers at Polk State College.
- After he had been terminated by Lakeland Regional Health and Polk State College for a failed drug test, AdventHealth apparently still hired him.
21 December 2021 | Police have found 75 images of child pornography on the personal computer of Brandon James Diaz, who told investigators he worked for AdventHealth Heart of Florida in Davenport, Florida, U.S., on Dec. 16, 2021.
Police found the child porn images during an investigation into charges that Diaz had changed administrators’ passwords at Polk State College in Florida, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a news conference on Dec. 17, 2021.
Diaz, 38, worked as a Clinical Coordinator for the EMS program at the college until he tested positive for drugs at a Lakeland Regional Health hospital, where he worked as a nurse. The drug test failure led to Lakeland Regional Health and Polk State College terminating his employment with them in April 2021, according to an article on Patch.com.
“It’s interesting to me to note that he’s terminated from Lakeland Regional, and AdventHealth hires him—when he’s got a problem at Lakeland Regional, when he’s got a problem at Polk State College,” said Judd.
Diaz blamed two of the instructors at Polk State College for his termination, said Judd. “So what does ole Einstein here do? He decides to hack computers,” said Judd.
Diaz told officers he accessed the Polk State College database from his personal computer. He confessed to altering the passwords of the program coordinator and instructor that he blamed for his termination. According to authorities, he also altered the administrative rights of other accounts. A total of 10 accounts had been tampered with, according to the Patch.com article.
Police said they did not find any personal identity information stolen during the investigation.
However, police said when the two Polk State College instructors reset their passwords, they discovered their password recovery hints had been changed to “Sell Out” or “Ha Ha Ha Loser.”
“The message [Diaz] sent to them was, ‘Ha Ha Ha Loser,’ but what I have to say to Brandon is, ‘Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas. You get a jail cell for Christmas from us,” said Judd.
A search warrant was served Dec. 16, 2021 at the Winter Haven, Florida, home of Diaz. Deputies took his computer and found 75 images of child pornography on it.
According to police, Diaz has a wife and four children. Investigators said at this point there is no indication that he has sexually abused his children.
(Photo: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd talks about Brandon Diaz (seen in smaller photo), a reported AdventHealth nurse accused of possessing child pornography and hacking a state college’s computer system. Photo via screenshot.)
