SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ A judge on Wednesday refused to reduce the $5 million bail of a San Francisco technology expert, who prosecutors alleged rigged the city's computer system to malfunction during routine maintenance.

Terry Childs has been jailed since July 13 on four felony counts of computer tampering, accused of creating secret passwords that gave him exclusive access to a network containing payroll records, police files and other sensitive information.

When pressed to reveal the passwords, he first gave authorities bogus codes, then refused to turn over the correct ones. He eventually turned them over to Mayor Gavin Newsom during an unusual jailhouse visit on Tuesday.

But San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Conrad del Rosario said Wednesday the city is still experiencing computer problems allegedly caused by Childs' mischief. The prosecutor told San Francisco Superior Court Judge Lucy McCabe that the city's Sheriff's Department is still "locked out" and other city departments are experiencing problems.

Del Rosario also told the judge that city officials uncovered evidence that Childs placed vital computer programs in temporary files that would be automatically deleted during maintenance.

Childs' attorney Erin Crane told the judge that her client was the subject of a smear campaign by co-workers jealous of Childs' computer savvy and work ethic.

In arguing for reduced bail for her client, Crane said in a motion that Childs was merely trying to

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protect the network after "co-workers and supervisors had in the past maliciously damaged the system themselves, hindered his ability to maintain it ... and shown complete indifference to maintaining it themselves."

Crane also said Childs' action posed no danger to the public.

She declined to comment outside court other than to say she was disappointed that Childs' bail would remain at $5 million. She said his incarceration before trial will hinder her preparation of a complex case.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.