5000 Pentagon Officials Involved in Child Porn

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Pentagon Officials Used Government Computers to Access Child Porn
Jul 25, 2010 Karen Stephenson

Pentagon Child Porn Investigation - Wikimedia Commons
On July 23, 2010, the Boston Globe reported a disturbing story about U.S.
officials in the Pentagon not only viewing, but purchasing child pornography.

Federal investigators have identified dozens of Pentagon officials and
contractors with high level security clearances who have allegedly used
government computers to purchase and download child pornography. Some of the
Pentagon workers have been charged, some have been sentenced and others have had
charges dropped against them.
Pentagon Child Pornography Investigations
Child porn offenders are individuals who were working for sensitive
Pentagon-related agencies. The Boston Globe states that employees of the
National Security Agency (NSA), the National Reconnaissance Office, and the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other organizations with the
Defense Department are involved. These agencies deal with some of the most
sensitive work in defense and intelligence.
The Boston Globe writes that these individuals who have access to government
secrets have put national security agencies at high risk of bribery, threats,
and possible blackmail. One report by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service
from late 2009 says that these individuals had access to military installations.
A government official provided the Boston Globe with a copy of the child porn
investigative documents after they were approved for public release.
Project Flicker
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation called Project Flicker
triggered the Defense Department investigation that dates back to 2002. Among
the 5,000 people who had ordered and paid for child porn from websites located
overseas were some Department of Defense employees. They included military
personnel, intelligence officials and defense contractors. These cases were
referred to the Department of Defense for additional investigation.
This news has only surfaced now because the investigation has been kept secret.
Some of the workers were prosecuted and some have been fired. Out of thirty
known cases of child porn use, only one individual has been convicted and
sentenced to five years in prison plus life on probation. A contractor with
access to sensitive information is believed to be hiding in Libya. Many cases
were dropped because evidence was not conclusive enough to convict the
perpetrators.
Read on
• Female Porn Addiction
• Sexual Predators: Internet Danger to Children
• Criminals and Terrorists Tracked by FBI Systems
According to the investigative service, some cases still remain open.
CBS News Reports of Child Porn
On The Early Show on Saturday Morning, longtime online child crimes prosecutor
and security expert Hemanshu Nigam said, "What's amazing about this is that
there were 5,000 individuals being investigated," he continues, "It puts our
country's security at risk and at risk for the people watching at home. I say
that because now you're (the government employee or contractor) vulnerable to
bribery. You may have downloaded a virus that puts a back door into a government
system that can be used in a cyber-terrorist attack or by an enemy foreign
state."
Nigam called these individuals idiots for doing this on government time. He said
on CBS News that the government needs to be looking at proper monitoring,
filtering and blocking systems on government computers. Nigam also stated that
this is one of the worst cases egregious abuses of office equipment he has ever
known.
Copyright Karen Stephenson. Contact the author to obtain permission for
republication.