MINNEOLA – Council member Joe Teri resigned Wednesday evening after city officials found thousands of pictures of pornography on his city-issued laptop computer.

The photographs — almost 4 gigabytes — were found in the laptop’s hard drive by a Minneola staff member after a city council meeting on Tuesday night, city manager Sam Oppelaar said. Council members were told after the meeting to turn in their city-issued computers so that city staff could update the software.

After discovering the steamy pictures, a staff member alerted Oppelaar on Wednesday morning.

Oppelaar said none of the pornography involved children. Even so, he called the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to investigate.

Oppelaar then drafted a letter of resignation, which Teri signed Wednesday afternoon just before 5 p.m.

“I in no way coerced him to do anything,” Oppelaar said. “I simply told him I have a computer that has something on it that shouldn’t be there.”

Oppelaar said he also told Teri that he would turn over all the Sheriff’s Office if he chose not resign.

In the past week, Teri was under heated criticism from residents and city staff for proposing to eliminate Minneola’s recreation department to balance the city’s budget without raising taxes.

Teri, 53, has served on the council since 2003 and won re-election last November. Council members serve two-year terms. He has lived in Minneola since 1994.