A forensic worker kept a dossier of graphic photos at his home and admitted telling friends about bizarre deaths investigated by his department.
More than 1200 images of crime scenes and human remains were found at the home of the former Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine technician, who has been investigated by the state's Ombudsman George Brouwer.
The investigation, outlined in a report released on Wednesday, found the employee released confidential details about autopsies to his friends in emails, text messages and during conversations over about six years.
The technician discussed cases he considered were "out of the ordinary" or "interesting" with up to 16 friends, some of whom went on an annual bus trip together, the Ombudsman's report said.
The employee, who resigned in January shortly after being interviewed, was found with 1279 work-related photographs on a portable hard drive, including 77 images of human remains.
The rest were mainly photos of crime scenes.
During an interview, the employee admitted telling a friend in conversation about a "bizarre circumstance of somebody who asphyxiated while performing sexual acts on themselves".
But the Ombudsman's investigation found the employee had emailed the friend the details from a private email account, saying "Thought this might tickle your `puerile little mind' ... Had an auto-erotic asphyxia case the other week".
The email's recipient forwarded the message to three other people in his own workplace.
The institute employee later emailed the same case to a list of people, describing its contents as a "ripsnorter".
The employee admitted he had not worked on the case but had accessed it anyway.
The employee's conduct will be referred to police, after the Ombudsman concluded his actions breached the public sector code of conduct and the institute's confidentiality agreement.
Mr Brouwer said he had heavily edited the report to protect the families of the deceased, because much of the information he had uncovered was so distressing.
"The Victorian public and families of deceased persons have in my view an implicit trust in agencies such as the institute to investigate deaths of deceased persons with integrity and respect," Mr Brouwer said in the report.
When told about the details of the case, Victorian Coroner Jennifer Coate said she was "deeply disturbed" that autopsy details had been emailed to multiple people, adding it was "totally prohibited" without her authorisation because it could interfere with coronial inquiries.
The employee, who had worked at the institute since 2004, will be investigated by police for misconduct in public office.
The Ombudsman has recommended the institute review its security and auditing arrangements, including restricting staff access to autopsy cases.
A Community and Public Sector Union spokesman said he did not believe the employee was a union member.
"It's a small, highly professional and discrete workforce," the spokesman told AAP.
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