Gaffni also presented his evidence for this claim. His attorney sent screenshots from Gaffney’s iPhone showing his photo library between January 18, 2026 and February 7, 2026. The photographs in question were not there. They weren’t in the “Recently Deleted” folder either.
But investigators later said their detailed forensic examination was actually able to turn up the photos on Gaffney’s phone. They also noted that metadata helped them tie photos to that device and even to specific moments that could be cross-checked with body camera footage.
Look at the observers
Gaffney was fired from the Sheriff’s Office last month and was charged today by Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan with “covertly photographing nude inmates.” And it didn’t just result in one payment; Gaffney was hit with a number of charges, including official oppression, unsworn falsification of authority, possession of an instrument of crime, and obstruction of the administration of law or other government functions.
“When a deputy sheriff breaks the law and then tries to cover it up by lying about it,” Khan said today“it undermines the public trust that thousands of honest public servants work every day to protect. This Office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute the conduct of officials at all levels of government to ensure that no one is above the law, especially those sworn to enforce the law.”
If the charges go ahead, then Gaffney is pretending to live in an old-fashioned world, where police brutality can be hidden on camera with one hand and a few errant screenshots sent to the chief. But a world full of surveillance cuts both ways, and that can frustrate cops who don’t know how much recording, metadata, and recording their every move captures.
