Sprint Phones Had Staff Porn, Shopper Says

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A young boy was exposed to pornographic images on a cellphone that was packaged and sold as though it were brand new, the boy's father claims in court.

Arsen Garibyan filed the complaint against Sprint and its affiliates in Superior Court on behalf of his son, identified only as D.G.

The father says that two years ago he purchased two cellphones from a Sprint store in Pasadena, Calif., but that sales representatives never mentioned the phones were used or refurbished.

On his return home, Garibyan's son asked if he could play a game on one of the phones, packaged in new boxes with original instructions and manuals, according to the lawsuit.

"After a few minutes, plaintiff [D.G.] started asking Mr. Garibyan, 'Daddy, what is this?' When Mr. Garibyan looked at the telephone in plaintiff's hand, to his shock, horror, and disgust, plaintiff was looking at pornographic photos and videos contained on one of the newly-purchased phones," the 21-page complaint states.

Garibyan claims the images depicted a man, and a saleswoman he recognized from his visit to the store.

The pornographic images included "full-body naked as well as genital-focused graphic pictures and videos of the Sprint Nextel sales representatives," the lawsuit alleges.

According to the father his "troubling" experience was not an isolated incident.

He says similar claims are alleged in a lawsuit against Sprint in a Georgia court. In that case, a 13-year-old was allegedly exposed to pornographic images on a HTC Evo 4g smartphone that was also refurbished and sold as new, according to the lawsuit.

"Nevertheless, the defendants failed to take adequate measures to ensure this horrific situation did not repeat itself and occur again," the complaint says.

Sprint spokeswomen Stephanie Walsh said the "incident occurred at a retail store in Pasadena that was selling Sprint products" and said the telecommunications company did not "condone" the alleged behavior.

"The sales representatives allegedly implicated were not Sprint employees," Walsh wrote in an email. "We terminated our relationship with this dealer shortly after the incident. Our investigation into this matter continues."

Garibyan seeks $100,000 in damages for breach of contract; fraud, deceit and false promise; breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing; breach of implied warranty of merchantability; misrepresentation; unfair competition; negligence; and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

He is represented by J. Scot Blackburn of the Law Offices of Adam Leach of South Pasadena, Calif.

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