Someone is hacking into the Colorado court’s video streaming system disrupting often-sensitive hearings with pornography, racial slurs and videos so disturbing, staff is reportedly traumatized by them.

The hacks, which started in July, have happened on Judicial Webex platforms all over the state, specifically those that stream for: Jefferson County; Clear Creek County mountain courts; Arapahoe County; Grand Junction’s Mesa County Courthouse; Boulder County Courthouse; Adams County for its Brighton courthouse and the Larimer County Courthouse in Fort Collins.

In many instances, hackers are changing their VPN location and using the names of defendants and victims to confuse court clerks, who then unknowingly let the hacker into the proceeding.

Webex by Cisco is a videoconferencing website that courts in Colorado have been using so that victims, defendants and their families can tune into court hearings and trials virtually. Its use became more widespread during the pandemic.

The Colorado Judicial Branch confirmed the problem Wednesday saying that their Information Technology team is taking the problem seriously.

“They are actively engaged in efforts to pinpoint the responsible parties or systems behind these random occurrences across various jurisdictions,” Suzanne Karrer, chief communications officer for the State Court Administrator’s Office said in an email.

Judges don’t appear to be cancelling the use of WebEx due to the hacks, Karrer said.

Ryan Brackley, a Denver defense attorney and former prosecutor, said that during a hearing on WebEx in a Larimer County case, someone “blasted ethnic slurs using the n-word” and then streamed pornography before the court clerk was able to shut it down.

His client, the defendant, who was watching the disposition hearing on WebEx texted, “WTF?”

Brackley said the interruption “…was somewhat shocking. And disruptive.” He added: “court is already very difficult to attend for defendants, victims and families. Webex offers an alternative that can be less demanding, time consuming and traumatic.”

After a disturbance on Webex during a hearing in Mesa County Tuesday, Chief 21st Judicial District Judge Bryan Flynn decided to keep people in a waiting room to vet them before allowing them into the Webex, as first reported by The Grand Junction Sentinel.

Twenty-first District Attorney Dan Rubinstein told The Denver Gazette that he has assigned investigators to work on the problem.

Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty also confirmed the “unfair and hurtful” interruptions have happened in his jurisdiction and suggested it may lead to an end to open access to WebEx. He reported the incidents to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement.

“This person clearly has to much time on their hands, as well as some other problems,” he said in an email.