Award-winning Washington Post editor Thomas LeGro ARRESTED on child pornography charges

An award-winning video editor for the Washington Post was arrested Thursday on possession of child pornography charges. Thomas Pham LeGro, 48, of Washington, D.C., allegedly tampered with the evidence during a search of his home, with authorities stating that agents discovered fragmented hard drive pieces next to his laptop, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

LeGro, who has been an employee of the Washington Post for the past 18 years, was arraigned on charges Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

FBI agents executed a search warrant at LeGro's residence on June 26, resulting in the seizure of several electronic devices. Authorities discovered a folder on his work laptop that allegedly contained 11 videos depicting child sex abuse material, according to an affidavit.

"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," the press release states.

The FBI stated in a 13-page charging complaint that LeGro was linked to an account discovered in 2005 as part of an investigation into E-Gold, a payment company utilized by child pornography websites, per the Washington Post. A subpoena issued in April 2006 to a third-party technology company linked LeGro to the account, as well as two additional E-Gold accounts that had similar usernames that were associated with the same phone number and address as LeGro's, according to the FBI.

The FBI received court approval on May 8 to track LeGro's Verizon internet account. The charging documents, filed Thursday and unsealed on Friday, consist mostly of redactions.

If convicted, LeGro faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The Washington Post said in a statement that LeGro has been placed on leave.

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 US 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 alongside a Post team for their 2018 investigative reporting piece on the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore of Alabama.