Hello,

I have some questions on polygraphs and wondered if you can assist me on these 3 questions refering to the info I list below.

1] Can you tell me if I did anything wrong?
2] If I answer as I have listed below if I will be reported and arrested?  I heard there is a federal law for them to report contact to the FBI?
3] Can you tell me if I will fail or be looked at as undesirable to hire by a national agency?

I am getting ready to graduate college with a political science degree, and I am applying to a federal agency job that requires a full scope polygraph.  I heard one of the things asked about is being gay, pornography, and child pornography among other things.

One of those 3 apply, but I am concerned with one other one.

Below are the facts and I can answer truthfully 100% without attempt to trickery...there is no attempt to hide anything with the facts below:

I look at adult pornagraphy on the web periodically.  All adults and NO kids or children.  I have NOT seeked out teen or child pictures.  I have NOT collected or stored teen or child pictures accidentally downloaded.  I do NOT find teen or child pictures attractive or stimulating; only adult females.  I am repulsed by child and teen preditors.  I applauded the young man from Nova Scotia that came down to Maine and killed 2 convicted child preditors on April 17th a few weeks ago after looking them up on the web; my only remorse there is the young man killed himself, and did so with 30 more preditors to get that he looked up.  That's how I truly feel about teen and child pornagraphy and preditors. 

But, there have been times when young teen pictures have come up unexpectedly.  During a time that I used a client sharing software to download music I could also download pictures.  The files usually had some descriptive title for selection, but several were NOT always accurate causing me to download something I did NOT want like teens.  I avoided any file name referencing teens or children, and immediately deleted the bad files.

Other times I surfed the web for various adult sites.  Different pop up sites would come up that I did NOT want.  Some had teens or kids, and I quickly closed those without clicking on the links.  Others had thumbnails that a few looked like teens and or kids so I did NOT click on those.  There were others that I thought were adults, but after clicking the thumbnail discovered it was teens or kids dresses up with make up and possibly a wig to look older so I closed out the frame and site.   

I have deliberately avoided any link or site saying "teens" because while 18 or 19 may be legal many look younger on the homepage and I don't think I could tell the difference between a 18 and 17 year old and did NOT want to take a chance that a picture might be younger than 18.  I joined a paid site to ensure legal adult pictures and still avoided the "teen" term on links.

Can you assist me with guidance?

Thank you, j

1.  No.  95% of males look at pornography.  The remaining 5% lie about it.

2.  Assuming you promptly deleted the files, I doubt you've violated any laws.

3.  Probably not. However if you applaud an extra-judicial killing, I'd advise you to keep that to yourself during the application process.  See the Dippityshurif post regarding a similiar question.

Regarding the three polygraph questions.  I doubt the intelligence agencies ask about homosexuality any more.  I've never known any law enforcement agency to ask about it.

yorkie wrote on Apr 30^th, 2006 at 3:23am:


Thanks for the clarification.  I'll freely admit my only experience with the polygraph involves law enforcement screenings.  The intelligence part was only a guess on my part, based on the fact that homosexuality is not stigmatized as it once was.

  So, what makes Intel Agencies think it is any of
their Goddamn business, what we look at on the
Internet ?   I said, screw that,  since I have refused to
take any more life-style polygraphs.  I got real tired
of NSA trying to weasel their noses into my business,
anymore.  I'm am very content, with what I have now,
most importantly, a personal life...

I would have to agree with Onesimus....the clean ones will have the hardest time...I was told that "You should be in a church, you're telling me you're such a saint"  just because i've had a great military career and other than a fight nearly ten years ago, i haven't been in trouble, no drugs (DUH!!!) and no tickets in like 5 years...

ealier post:
Well, where do I start….after many police departments turned me down due to arrests and drug experimentation when I was 16/17 (I’m now “over 30”), I found a larger department that I really thought I had a chance with.  They looked past all the crap in my earlier years after a very successful military career, including just returning from Iraq with multiple awards.  Had the interview/polygraph last week and I was amazed.  The polygrapher said that I was trying to beat the test…I was spiking all over the place.  When I told him, “I was slowing my breathing down” and he asked “Why?”  I told him the truth, “because my heart felt like it was going to blow out of my chest and that’s the first thing you do with someone having an adrenaline rush, slow their breathing down so they maintain control”  He asked me if I ever researched how to beat a polygraph. Over and over and over…my answer still remains the same, “NO, NEVER”  Well, here I am today, now researching it LOL to find out WTH he was talking about”
“Well, my machine is telling me you’re trying to beat the test”
“Sir, I’m not”
“Well, it’s either that or you have something BIG you’re not telling me, causing you to spike across the whole test”
We hashed over the questions, even letting me read the sheet, showing which ones were designed to catch lies and the control questions….over and over again, he was “trying to help” me for an hour.   
It came down to, “Well Sir, it appears that unless I change my answer and tell you that I have researched how to beat the polygraph, I won’t be ‘passed’ and move on to the next stage.”
“I’m not saying that, I just want the truth”
“I am telling you the truth and although it might help me to say I have researched it, THAT would be a lie and I have too much integrity to do that”
Well, that ended the test and I had to see my background investigator.  He had me “sign off” for a few months, and I can start the process again.
I have more integrity than 99% of the cops I know, and have worked side-by-side with, including those in combat….so this crap really confuses the hell out of me and I’m totally frustrated.  They said there is no appeal process, etc.  and although I’ve been told by countless friends, that are totally amazed I didn’t breeze through (because unfortunately I’m one of the most honest people you’ll ever meet), to get a lawyer and fight it…why?  So I can be blacklisted for life?  No thanks…..
One last thing....i know that a background investigation takes up a lot of resources, but i would think this would be the perfect opportunity for them to use the background to find out that i really am a great candidate...maybe i'm just confused...who knows....but surely frustrated.