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Evidence Found On Computer But Not My Computer

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Location: Illinois

My mom asked my husband to remove the hard drives from the old computers she and her boyfriend owned over the past 15 years to find some old pictures. In those hard drives, specifically her boyfriend's hard drives, he found evidence of the abuse I've been experiencing since I was a child. They are pictures of me and of other young girls.

Can I legally use this as evidence or not, because the laptops/hard drives are not mine? Would that be considered theft if I held onto them until I could afford a lawyer?

Thank you.

Edit: Thank you for all the advice. I am obviously not a lawyer and not familiar with CSAM material or how it's legally handled, so I appreciate the few commenters who gave me common grace with that knowledge and responded respectfully. This was not a question of “if” but “when” and trying to understand the potentially vulnerable legal position I was concerned it might put me in. Either way, evidence is being turned over. Thanks again, everyone!

submitted by /u/nueropsychgirl
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