Washington, D.C.After a federal probe turned up violent films on his work laptop, officials said Friday that a Washington Post journalist had been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography.
Washington, D.C. resident Thomas Pham LeGro, 48, was arrested on June 26 following the execution of a search warrant at his home by FBI investigators. According to federal prosecutors, detectives found electronic devices during the search, including LeGro’s work-issued laptop, which included a folder containing 11 films showing child sexual assault content.
LeGro is a journalist for the far-left newspaper who won the Pulitzer Prize.
LeGro appeared in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for the first time on Friday. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the charges and praised the Metropolitan Police Department and FBI Washington Field Office for their contributions to the investigation.
Hard disk fragments were discovered close to the confiscated laptop.
In the corridor outside the room where the laptop was found, agents also discovered what looked to be fragments of a damaged hard drive. If there was more evidence in those bits, authorities have not revealed it.
The FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which consists of local and federal law enforcement agencies from Northern Virginia and D.C., is working on the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janani Iyengar and Caroline Burrell.
The arrest is a component of the Department of Justice’s nationwide Project Safe Childhood campaign to prevent child exploitation online.
