Washington Post reporter arrested on child pornography charges after FBI search and is placed on leave

A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter was arrested and placed on leave after being charged with possessing child pornography on his work laptop.

Thomas Pham LeGro, 48, was arrested Thursday and taken into custody after a search of his District of Columbia home.

LeGro made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court.

The charges reportedly stem from an FBI search at his home Thursday, where agents seized several electronic devices. 

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A review of LeGro’s work laptop allegedly revealed a folder that contained 11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

During the execution of a search warrant, authorities said they found what appeared to be fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro’s work laptop was found.

“The Washington Post understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” a Washington Post spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email Friday.

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The George Mason graduate was part of a team of Post reporters awarded a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore in 2018.

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LeGro, who has been with the publication for more than a decade, served as deputy director of video, overseeing a group of video journalists. He also briefly worked for PBS.

Pirro thanked FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department for their ongoing efforts in the investigation.

The case, part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, according to the release.