NEW: Washington Post Journalist Charged With Child Sex Crimes

A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist was arrested and charged after federal investigators allegedly recovered child porn material on his work computer, D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Friday.

Thomas Pham LeGro, 48, was taken into custody on Thursday after FBI agents raided his home and seized several electronic devices. A review of LeGro’s work laptop revealed a folder that contained 11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material, Pirro’s office announced in a press release.

Upon executive the search warrants, agents also discovered “fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro’s work laptop was found,” the release continued. It is believed that LeGro, who was working as a video editor for the outlet, smashed his personal laptop just as agents were executing the warrant.

LeGro made his his first appearance in District Court of Washington, DC, on Friday and has a detention hearing scheduled for next Wednesday, the New York Post reported.

Photo: Tom LeGro via LinkedIn

The journalist, who has worked at the Washington Post for 18 years, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.  LeGro’s worked in the outlet’s sports department from 2000-2006 and then left to become a reporter and producer for “PBS NewsHour” before returning to WaPo in 2013, his biography reads.

A heavily redacted FBI file further alleges that LeGro was linked to multiple E-Gold accounts in 2005 and 2006.  The now defunct digital payment processor was seized by the feds in 2007 after credible evidence that it was used to launder money for child pornographers.

According to the affidavit, the FBI first obtained permission to monitor LeGro’s online activities this past May.

As a member of the outlet’s video operation, he was a part of a team of reporters who won a prestigious Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 2017 Alabama Senate special election, a bizarre race that was racked by scandals surrounding Roy Moore.

A spokesperson for the Washington Post said Legro has been placed on leave following his arrest. “The Washington Post understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” the outlet said in a statement.