Child-porn probe nets 20 Pentagon workers

Child-porn probe nets 20 Pentagon workers
SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010 02:52 AM
BY DANA HEDGPETH
THE WASHINGTON POST

DispatchPolitics

DispatchPolitics.com

WASHINGTON - Federal investigators have identified about 20 Pentagon employees and contractors who allegedly bought and downloaded child pornography; some even viewed the illegal material on their government-issued computers.

Yesterday, the Defense Department's inspector general's office released a 94-page report that says some of those involved had top-secret security clearances and worked for divisions such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Security Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office. Those agencies deal with some of the government's most sensitive intelligence and defense work.

Government auditors released the report, with certain names and information redacted, after The Boston Globe reported the pornography investigation.

The number of Pentagon employees investigated was not disclosed in the report, but a Pentagon spokeswoman said the probe involved about 20 people who had an "affiliation with the Defense Department" as full-time employees, former military members or contractors.

Some have been prosecuted, but some of those cases were dropped for lack of evidence. Others remain open.

The cases are part of a wider probe, Operation Flicker, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began four years ago. It has identified more than 5,000 subscribers to child-pornography websites.

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