An award-winning video editor from the Washington Post was arrested on Thursday for possession of child pornography. Thomas Pham LeGro, 48 years old and a resident of Washington, D.C., allegedly tampered with evidence during a search of his home. Authorities stated that agents found fragments of a hard drive next to his laptop, according to a Department of Justice press release.
LeGro, who has worked for the Washington Post for the past 18 years, was arraigned on Friday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Thomas Pham LeGro On June 26, FBI agents executed a search warrant at his residence, resulting in the seizure of several electronic devices. Authorities discovered a folder on his work laptop that allegedly contained 11 videos with child sexual abuse material, according to an affidavit.
"During the execution of the search warrant, agents observed what appeared to be fractured fragments of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro's work laptop was found," the press release states.
The FBI stated in a 13-page complaint that LeGro was linked to an account discovered in 2005 as part of an investigation into E-Gold, a payment company used by child pornography websites, according to the Washington Post. A subpoena issued in April 2006 to an external technology company linked LeGro to the account, as well as to two additional E-Gold accounts with similar usernames, associated with the same phone number and address as LeGro's, according to the FBI.
Thomas Pham LeGro.
The FBI received judicial approval on May 8 to track LeGro's Verizon internet account. The indictment documents, filed on Thursday and unsealed on Friday, consist mainly of redactions. If convicted, LeGro faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in a federal prison. The Washington Post reported in a statement that LeGro has been placed on leave of absence.
This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Caroline Burrell and Janani Iyengar for the District of Columbia. According to the Washington Post, LeGro was promoted to deputy video editor in February 2024 and won a Pulitzer Prize along with a Post team for their 2018 investigative article on Roy Moore's Alabama Senate campaign.
