In a scandal shaking the foundations of The Washington Post, Thomas Pham LeGro, a Pulitzer-winning editor, faces charges of possessing child pornography, casting a dark shadow over the revered journalism institution.
At a Glance
- Thomas Pham LeGro, 51, an investigative editor at The Washington Post, has been arrested on a federal charge of possessing child pornography.
- The arrest was announced by the office of interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
- A criminal complaint alleges 11 illicit videos were found on his devices and that he attempted to destroy a hard drive.
- LeGro was part of the Post team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for exposing the Roy Moore sexual misconduct scandal.
- The Washington Post has placed LeGro on administrative leave.
A Pulitzer-Winning Editor Arrested
Thomas Pham LeGro, 51, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative editor at The Washington Post, was arrested on Friday, June 27, 2025, on a federal charge of possession of child pornography. The charges were announced by the office of Jeanine Pirro, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The arrest has sent shockwaves through the journalism community, raising difficult questions for one of the nation’s most prestigious news organizations. LeGro was a key editor on the team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for its work exposing sexual misconduct allegations against former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
The Criminal Complaint
According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court and released by the Department of Justice, the FBI had been monitoring LeGro’s internet activity since at least May. A subsequent search warrant executed at his Washington, D.C. home revealed multiple devices that “contained 11 videos depicting child pornography.”
The complaint also notes that during the search, agents discovered what “appeared to be fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway” near where LeGro’s work computer was found, suggesting a possible attempt to destroy evidence.
The Washington Post Responds
In response to the arrest and the disturbing allegations, The Washington Post issued a brief statement. “The Washington Post understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” a spokesperson for the newspaper told Fox News.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force as part of “Project Safe Childhood,” a nationwide initiative to combat online child exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Attorney’s Office noted that the charge in the complaint is merely an allegation and that LeGro, like all defendants, is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
