FBI staff disciplined for sex texts and nude pictures

The FBI has disciplined agents for sending nude pictures, bugging a boss's office, and visiting a massage parlour, a leaked memo has revealed.

The misconduct cases were among those detailed in a leaked internal email, sent to all FBI staff and published online by CNN.

They ranged from the "unprofessional conduct" of texting nude images, to more serious theft and gun offences.

The unnamed agents involved were either suspended or dismissed.

In one case, an employee used a personal mobile phone to send nude photographs to several other employees. The report said the incident "created office gossip" and "adversely affected the daily activities of several squads".

In another incident, a staff member used an FBI-issued Blackberry to send explicit text messages to a second staff member, while another was disciplined for emailing nude pictures of herself to her ex-boyfriend's wife.

Another agent was suspended for 14 days for paying for a "sexual favour" while visiting a massage parlour.

Other violations included committing fraud, mishandling evidence, shop-lifting and making unauthorised use of the FBI database to search for information on friends and family.

One agent was suspended for taking an FBI motorcycle for a joyride, while another was disciplined for carrying his gun while drunk.

In one stand-out case, an employee was sacked for unprofessional conduct after he was found to have bugged his boss's office. The report said the employee hid a recording device in the office and searched through his supervisor's paperwork.

The FBI said the regular emails to staff on disciplinary issues were designed as deterrence.

"We're hoping (that) getting the message out in the quarterlies is going to teach people, as well as their supervisors ... you can't do this stuff," FBI assistant director Candice Will said, in an interview with CNN.

"When you are given an FBI Blackberry, it's for official use. It's not to text the woman in another office who you found attractive or to send a picture of yourself in a state of undress. That is not why we provide you an FBI Blackberry."