A former IT director for the Higley Unified School District suspected of downloading an alien-searching program is accused of installing its computer equipment at another school district and should face charges, Gilbert police said in a report obtained by The Arizona Republic.

After a nearly four-month investigation that encompassed Higley and Globe unified school districts, Gilbert police recommended prosecutors seek felony charges against former Higley Unified IT director Bradley Niesluchowski, including the spending of public money for personal use, computer tampering and the possession of lost or stolen items.

Niesluchowski, 38, of Mesa, resigned in October days after Higley Unified officials confronted him with a list of policy violations detailed in a notice of termination with cause. He also is accused of possessing thousands of dollars' worth of Higley Unified equipment without permission.

The notice by Superintendent Denise Birdwell accused Niesluchowski of downloading pornography, stealing equipment to support his business and installing on thousands of Higley computers without authorization a University of California-Berkeley research program, BOINC, for the SETI@home project - the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.

The SETI project involves millions of volunteers worldwide who have downloaded the program to search telescope-collected radio signals for signs of intelligent life. The program runs like a screensaver, turning on whenever a computer is idle.

District officials allege Niesluchowski began installing the SETI program on district computers without administrators' knowledge a month after he was hired in January 2000. They also said he disabled the shut-down mode on all of Higley Unified's 4,900 computers so they would run 24/7. They blame the SETI program for interruptions in teacher lessons on electronic white boards and for excessive utility use, costing the district more than $1 million.

Niesluchowski denied all accusations in a recent lengthy e-mail to reporters and board members, saying he is the victim of a personal vendetta by Birdwell, in her first year as superintendent. He also defended the SETI project.

Niesluchowski has not responded to calls or e-mails seeking comment.

Administrators demoted him in May from IT director to network-systems manager, cutting his annual salary 20 percent to about $70,000. As IT director, Niesluchowski had been in charge of purchasing decisions for technology districtwide.

No reason for demotion was mentioned in Higley Unified personnel documents obtained by The Republic. District officials said it was because of districtwide budget reductions for state funding cuts.

However, they also wanted to make widespread improvements in Higley Unified technology and ended up hiring five contractors to do an audit.

Gilbert police report that through SETI network administrators, they learned Niesluchowski has been involved with the SETI project for nine years under the name "Nez." The account was linked to more than 9,500 IP addresses traced to computers at Higley and Globe unified school districts.

Nez is listed as the top project participant in online SETI statistics.

Police said Globe Unified officials told them Niesluchowski had worked as a consultant for their district on a $100,000 contract.

Globe Unified's chief administrative officer, Ron Nelson, has not returned phone calls seeking comment.

During a warranted search of Niesluchowski's Mesa home Sept. 25, police seized about 40 pieces of Higley-owned computer equipment and a BlackBerry that district officials said he had taken without authorization, a police report stated.