Charges were filed against O’Malley after a FBI investigation, started in 2004, discovered that the county official had explicit photos of child pornography, bestiality, bondage and other “sexually deviant acts” on several computers that were taken from his home. The computers were removed by authorities on unrelated matters.
Reportedly, prosecutors in the case chose to file an obscenity charge against O’Malley, which they felt would be easier to prove than child pornography charges.
Estranged from his wife at the time of the investigation, O’Malley was residing in the home with the couples’ two children.
On two of the computers seized, investigators found images of child pornography. Another computer, located in O’Malley’s bedroom also contained sexually explicit content, but a computer used by the children was not found to have any sexually explicit material.
O’Malley resigned from his position as county recorder in May, ending a public career that included a term as a Cleveland councilman.