Titillating photos of young female staffers were used without supervisors’ knowledge during FBI sting operations aimed at capturing sex traffickers, according to a Justice Department review obtained by USA Today.
The photos were posted on social media by an unidentified agent, and while the subjects of the photographs had their faces obscured and were clothed, the plan “potentially placing (staffers) in danger of becoming victims,” the report said.
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No undercover authorization was issued, and the staffers did not give written consent for the operation.
The agent under investigation “said he was 'fishing' on social media sites but not recording which sites he used," the report said. "The [agent] did not inform the support staff employees’ supervisors that the employees were involved in [undercover] operations, and the [agent] advised the support staff employees who provided photographs to not tell anyone, including their supervisors."
There was also no way to trace how the photos in question were used by viewers after they were posted.
“Additionally, the FBI had no documentation or information regarding whether the photographs still appear on the websites or how long the photographs appeared on the websites, during which time the photographs could have been – and potentially could still be – downloaded, copied or further disseminated,” the report said.
