RHODE ISLAND (UPDATE) IT DIRECTOR CHARGED WITH COMPUTER THEFT Cumberland Schools IT Director Charged with Computer Theft l WPRI.com:


IT director charged in
computer heist
Cops: Suspect sold computers to
school employees

Updated: Wednesday, 22 Apr 2009, 1:09 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 22 Apr 2009, 12:53 PM EDT

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• Nancy Krause

CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WPRI) - The IT director for Cumberland Schools has been charged with stealing new school computers and selling them back to school employees.

Robert Legacy, 52, is accused of running the operation with his 20-year-old son Kevin, who also helped install computers in the district. Both Cranston men were arrested Monday and are now facing felony charges of receiving stolen goods and larceny.

School Superintendent Donna Morrelle said she was made aware of the thefts three weeks ago and immediately contacted police.

So far, 18 school employees have come forward to say they bought computers from Legacy. Since additional computers are missing, police expect more people to come forward. Some of the computers were laptops, others were desktops.

During a news conference Wednesday, Cumberland Police Chief John Desmarais said shoddy paperwork and record keeping make it impossible to know for sure exactly how many computers were stolen.

"[Legacy] was responsible for most of that paperwork. An individual in investigations like this is not going to make it easy for the administration or the police to find out which computers are stolen," Desmarais said.

In all, Legacy was responsible for overseeing and maintain 1,000 computers at Cumberland's nine schools.

School officials have suspended Legacy without pay. Both men have posted bail and have future court dates scheduled.

The case has now been handed over to the Attorney General's Office.