A Cuesta College employee is facing a felony charge related to an information breach of college personnel records.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's office said Thursday afternoon that it has filed one criminal complaint against Lacey Fowler, a human resources analyst at the college. It's a felony violation of Penal Code section 502(c), Improperly Accessing Computer Data.
Fowler was taken into custody in San Miguel Wednesday night and has since posted bail.
The college says it cannot disclose at this point how many people are affected by the information breach, but that everyone affected by the breach has been contacted with the appropriate steps to take.
Investigators believe Fowler accessed Cuesta's employee database from her home computer while on leave from the college.
Cuesta Police Chief Joe Arteaga said the investigative team has collected evidence, including the computer. It still needs to be tested for files that may have been erased.
"We're actually kind of at a stand still," said Arteaga. "We won't be hearing anything until those tests are done, but we don't expect that for between two to three weeks."
The Cuesta Police Department conducted the investigation in cooperation with the DA's office.
During a follow-up investigation at the Fowler residence, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office said meth and heroin were discovered in a storage unit worth an estimated $27,000.
The DA's office also said Thursday that it had filed a separate complaint against Chad Folwer, 34, including a felony count of Possessing Heroin for Sale in violation of Health & Safety Code section 11351, and another felony count of Possessing Methamphetamine for sale in violation of Health & Safety Code section 11378.
The Fowlers are expected to be arraigned in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court on Monday, June 22.
