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Former playhouse director cleared of child pornography charges

Olympia, Wash. — "When the police arrested me, the first words out of my mouth were 'You have the wrong person,'" said Troy Fisher.

Now Fisher is preparing to file a lawsuit against the city of Olympia, its Police Department and several individual officers.


Fisher claims they violated his constitutional rights and destroyed his good name.

"There's nothing they can do really to restore what's been taken from me," he said.

Fisher was the Interim Director of the Capital Playhouse in Olympia when he disappeared last July. Fisher told KIRO-7 he had been working very long hours and was sleep-deprived. He claims he does not remember where he went or what happened while he was missing. Olympia police were called by worried friends and officers were granted permission to search Fisher's computer to try and find clues to his disappearance. However, Fisher ended up resurfacing before that computer search was conducted, but police continued with the analysis of the computer anyway and discovered what they believed to be pornographic images of children.

Fisher was charged with the crime but in February a judge threw out the case saying police had illegally searched his computer.

"There's no excuse for that, these are law enforcement agents and they should know the law and they broke the law," Fisher said.

Fisher said he is also filing the lawsuit to try and clear his name, saying he has done nothing wrong.

"Did you ever knowingly search or knowingly download child pornography?" asked KIRO-7 South Sound reporter Richard Thompson.

"I didn't never, furthest thing from my mind ever," he said.

Fisher admitted viewing legal adult pornography sites and said forensic experts will show the alleged child pornography may have been downloaded onto his computer by malware without Fisher's knowledge.


Fisher also said he would like to get an apology from the Olympia Police Department but doubts it will happen, saying, "They don't sit across from you and see that you are a human being and what they have done has affected your life, that they have defamed and destroyed a human being's life."

Olympia police officials told KIRO-7 they have not yet received Fisher's claim and cannot comment on the pending litigation.