A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist was arrested and charged after authorities allegedly discovered child porn on his work computer, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Friday.
Thomas Pham LeGro, a 48-year-old video editor at the news outlet, was taken into custody on Thursday after FBI agents raided his Washington, DC, home and discovered a folder on his work laptop which contained 11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material, according to Pirro’s office.
FBI agents also discovered “fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro’s work laptop was found,” during the execution of the search warrant.
Legro made his first appearance in District Court of Washington, DC, on Friday and has a detention hearing scheduled for next Wednesday.
The journalist, who has worked at the Washington Post for 18 years, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
A heavily redacted FBI affidavit against LeGro claims the reporter was linked to multiple E-Gold accounts in 2005 and 2006.
E-Gold was a digital payment service that ceased operations after the feds accused the company in 2007 of laundering money for child pornographers.
The affidavit notes that the FBI received court approval to monitor LeGro’s internet account in May.
LeGro’s worked in the Washington Post’s sports department from 2000-2006 and then left to become a reporter and producer for “PBS NewsHour” before returning to WaPo in 2013, according to his biography.
As a member of WaPo’s video department, he was part of a team of reporters that won a prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for coverage of former Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Moore threatened to sue the Washington Post that year after the outlet published allegations that he romantically pursued a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s, which he vehemently denied.
A spokesperson for the Washington Post said Legro has been placed on leave.
“The Washington Post understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” the outlet said in a statement.
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