Deputies: Child porn suspect was 'borrowing' wifi

A man was busted for watching child porn on his computer in Tampa, and it was where he was caught that was so alarming.

Detectives said 29-year-old Benjamin Ashauer was using his laptop computer and free wifi was the cause of his downfall. He's accused of surfing for child porn in front of the Terrace Collection strip mall on Busch Boulevard.

Someone walking by told police they saw the disturbing images on his laptop.

"We just saw images of young girls on his computer," said Hillsborough County Detective Christopher Heaverin, who is with the Internet Predator Unit. It didn't take long before the computer and Ashauer were taken into custody. He's charged with 50 counts of possessing child porn.

Ashauer told detectives he was homeless, but listed his last known address as an apartment complex in Temple Terrace, run by Touched by the Hand Ministries. We checked and there are 31 sex offenders within one mile of Touched by the Hand Ministries, seven of which are predators.

The outreach is run by felony sex offender Ruben Alvarez, whom we called, but he would not comment about Ashauer and hung up on us.

Heaverin said Ashauer is a child porn addict.

"They have to have it, and so it doesn't matter where they're at, where they're getting it from, they need it and they'll get it," he said.

And Ashauer got it using a free wifi hotspot.

"Some hotspot locations require a password," said Heaverin. Ashauer obtained one from the owner of the wifi, who later told investigators he had no idea Ashauer was looking at child porn. Still, there is plenty of free wifi out there.

"If you find them, you log on, it's just like you're sitting at your house, no password required and you can go anywhere you want on the internet," said Heaverin.

So, if your wifi is not password protected, can you be implicated in a crime?

"Companies, when they allow wifi at their location, they put in filters, they don't want certain things looked for, certain key phrases, certain words, and if you try to type them in, you're not going to get anything," said Heaverin. "For those people who have open wireless, don't be shocked if we come knocking at your door."

The best advice, he said, is put a password on your wireless router.

Ashauer remains in the Hillsborough County Jail without bond.