California Tax Board Employee At Center Of Child Pornography Investigation

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A state Franchise Tax Board employee is under investigation after allegations he had hundreds of child pornography images on his work computer.

According to court documents filed on Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now stepping in.

State investigators say Jack Johnston's name came up during a routine virus check of the FTB's computer system in September. Court documents say investigators "Identified approximately 200 images of child pornography," "along with copies of confidential FTB taxpayer information" on Johnston's system and personal flash drives.

They also found "An image of Johnston laying shirtless in bed" next to an underage relative.

In December, agents from the FTB's criminal investigation bureau served a search warrant at Johnston's Folsom home and seized cameras, USB drives, computers and a sexually explicit video.

Documents say Johnston told investigators the child porn "images must have been placed on his personal flash drive in error when transferring photos from his home computer onto his flash drive."

The FBI is taking over the investigation.

Johnston has not been arrested or charged.

The FTB told CBS on Wednesday, "The individual mentioned in yesterday's court filings is no longer an employee of the Franchise Tax Board (FTB)."