US journalist arrested and charged with possessing child sex abuse material

Thomas LeGro, an award-winning Washington Post journalist, has been charged for possessing child pornography, after being arrested following a search at his home, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on Friday.According to a DoJ press release, videos depicting child sexual abuse material were found in LeGro's work laptop."On June 26, FBI agents executed a search warrant at LeGro’s residence and seized several electronic devices. A review of his work laptop revealed a folder which contained 11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material," the Justice Department said."During the execution of the search warrant, agents observed what appeared to be fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro's work laptop was found," it added.The case against the Washington Post journalist was brought as part of DoJ's Project Safe Childhood, a February 2006 initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Under Project Safe Childhood, which is led by US attorney offices, authorities at various levels (federal, state, local) locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, and identify and rescue victims.Washington Post reactsIn a statement, The Washington Post stated that it “understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” but declined to comment further.LeGro, 48, who has worked at The Post for 18 years in two stints since 2000, was part of its team which won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 2018 for coverage of the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore of Alabama.He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years if convicted.