COLUMBUS, Ohio - A state intern fired after a sensitive computer backup device was stolen from his car claimed he has been made a scapegoat and was not allowed time to confer with his parents last week after his former bosses pressured him to resign before he was fired. 

Jared Ilovar, 22, was an intern at the state's Office of Management and Budget when the device, containing the Social Security numbers of 859,852 Ohioans, was stolen from his car on June 10 or June 11. He was responsible for taking the device home overnight for safekeeping.

Read Jared Ilovar's Entire Statement

As an intern, he said, he was given minimal instructions on how to safeguard the tape, simply told to removed the tape from the office each night and return it the following morning.

Ilovar said he was never instructed by his employer on how to properly "secure, store or watch over the data theft tapes at night."

After Friday's report, Ilovar said two supervisors and an attorney for the state gave him the option of resigning or being fired.

"I was called in to an office and handed a letter of resignation and told, 'sign this letter of resignation or you are fired,'" Ilovar said in his statement.

He said he called his parents for advice and they instructed him to not sign the letter right away and ask for an hour to discuss his options with them.

"I was denied an hour to make this important decision," Ilovar said. "Within a few minutes I was strong armed in to signing the letter of resignation."       

At first, Ilovar said he signed the resignation letter, then was fired after he spoke with his parents and rescinded the letter.

"For weeks, Governor Ted Strickland vowed not to make me the scapegoat. Indeed, I am the scapegoat," Ilovar said in a statement Wednesday.

Strickland told ONN on Wednesday that he didn't consider Ilovar to be a scapegoat for the state.

"No, he is not a scapegoat," Strickland said. "I found out that this was not the first time that this device, with this data on it, had been left in a car overnight."

"I feel badly for this young man, I really do," Strickland said. "He was part of a set of circumstances that should not have occurred -- but he was part of those circumstances."

In his statement, Ilovar thanked OAKS for the opportunity he was given to work there and said he wished the outcome was different. He also thanked the governor.

"Gov. Strickland said that he had been trying to protect me, the intern, and that he allowed me to remain employed while the investigation continued," Ilovar said. "For this I want to say 'Thank you.' Having said thank you, I would like to ask Gov. Strickland and/or his administration for an internship...I would like to move forward...I know I would be an asset to any office. Maybe Gov. Strickland's office will give me the opportunity."

Strickland told 10TV News that it wouldn't be appropriate for Ilovar to work in his office at this time.

"I'm not saying it would never be appropriate for him to be associated with the state government," Strickland said, "but I don't think it's appropriate at this time."

Previous Stories:

July 20, 2007: Firing, Resignation Follow Data Theft Probe
July 20, 2007: State: Credit Monitoring Letter Is Legitimate
July 11, 2007: Thousands Of Additional Ohioans' Info On Stolen Data Disk
July 9, 2007: Tips Collected In State Data Theft Investigation
June 25, 2007: State Admits Another Date Theft
June 20, 2007: Strickland: Stolen Device Contains Taxpayer Info
June 18, 2007: Security Expert Helps Investigate Stolen Data
June 16, 2007: Highway Patrol Seeks Tips In Data Disc Theft
June 15, 2007: State Data Storage Device Stolen

The Associated Press contributed to this report.