FBI crime fighters battle outbreak of internal ‘sexting’ cases

The crime fighters at the FBI are battling an outbreak of internal misbehavior — sexting.

An FBI assistant director acknowledged a “rash of sexting cases” within the Bureau as confidential internal disciplinary reports with examples of the misbehavior were revealed on Friday.

The reports were obtained by CNN and published on the news network’s website after they were sent to FBI employees to deter bad behavior.

The documents, which don’t include employees’ names, included one case of a staffer being suspended after emailing a nude photograph of herself to her ex-boyfriend’s wife.

In another brazen case, an employee was suspended for using a personal cell phone to send dirty photos “to several other employees.”

The document notes that the mass sexting “adversely affected the daily activities of several squads.”

"We're hoping (that) getting the message out in the quarterlies is going to teach people, as well as their supervisors ... you can't do this stuff," FBI assistant director Candice Will told CNN.

"When you are given an FBI BlackBerry, it's for official use. It's not to text the woman in another office who you found attractive or to send a picture of yourself in a state of undress,” Will said.

Besides sexting, other violations outlined in the documents range from the petty to the shocking.

Minor infractions that resulted in suspensions included fudging work hours or failing to properly log evidence.

One employee was suspended after an FBI-issued shotgun, laptop and camera were left in a car overnight – and then stolen.

Another paid for sexual favors at a massage parlor.

The more bizarre cases included an FBI staffer who was suspended after pointing an unloaded gun at a dog’s head during a domestic fight.

Another was fired for bugging a supervisor’s office and rifling through the superior’s briefcase.

The most serious cases involved one employee who was fired for buying child pornography and others who were ousted for stealing.

One employee shoplifted from a grocery store, another was fired for buying gas with a stranger’s lost or stolen debit card and a third committed check fraud.

From 2010 to 2012, CNN said the FBI disciplined 1,045 of its 36,000 employees and fired 85.