Man Convicted in Theft of Company’s Computer Files

A Ventura County jury on Tuesday convicted a former facilities manager of Camarillo-based Siemens Solar Industries in connection with a break-in at the company last year.

After deliberating only three hours, the Superior Court jury found George Stockhausen of Lancaster guilty of one count of burglary and one count of unlawful access of a computer.

Authorities said the case appears to be the first in county history in which a defendant was charged with stealing confidential computer files.

A Siemens security guard saw Stockhausen downloading computer files in the company’s legal office shortly after midnight on Feb. 27.

Stockhausen confessed to private investigators that he entered the locked, off-limits office from a rooftop and copied some files.

The break-in of the legal office occurred only hours after Siemens sued Atlantic Richfield Co., alleging that Arco had failed to disclose problems at the Camarillo plant before selling it to Siemens.

Siemens officials speculated the burglary may have been intended to get information about the suit. Stockhausen, however, told private investigators that he was trying to retrieve information on another Siemens employee rumored to have failed a drug test.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donna W. Thonis did not try to prove that Stockhausen wanted to sell the computer files that he copied. She told the jury his motive was irrelevant, since it is illegal to copy computer files without permission.

Defense attorney Kenneth B. Frank of Los Angeles, who could not be reached after the verdicts, did not put Stockhausen on the stand or offer any defense.