abc13 photographer witnesses sealed court documents thrown in trash

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Harris County clerk was seen dumping files into a trash can by none other than our own news photographer, and some of the documents included sealed court records.

About 2,000 pages of documents were in the trash can. Apparently a disgruntled district court clerk threw out the documents on what we are told was going to be the his last day at the court house.

"Knew that he was about to be terminated, dumped sensitive data records from the mental health docket," Harris County District Clerk Chris Daniel said.

Now Steven Calyen, 33, is facing a felony tampering with government records charge.

Channel 13 photographer Jaime Zamora says he found Calyen tossing the documents into the trash can on the 20th floor.

"As I walked by, I said hey you're getting rid of a lot of stuff here. He commented to the effect, yeah I ran out of room in the other trash can so I came up here to get with some others," Zamora said.

After Calyen left, Zamora called the district clerk's office because it is responsible for the court records. Officials say they found allegedly tossed records on the 14th floor as well.

"It is infuriating that you would risk releasing any sensitive records to the public at large by having them in these prominent trash cans right here on this floor, and it is a horrible thought that someone would be motivated to do this," Daniel said. "And why they would do this is a question for that gentleman himself, who I understand is allegedly now in custody."

The files were from at least two separate courts. One of those judges told us the cases would not be harmed by this, but the files contained personal information like financial records, health records, mental health records.

If convicted, Calyen could face as many as 10 years behind bars.