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Pentagon declined
to investigate
hundreds of
purchases of child
pornography
John Cook
The Upshot September 3, 2010

Popular in the Community

A 2006 Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into the

purchase of child pornography online turned up more than 250 civilian and
military employees of the Defense Department -- including some with the
highest available security clearance -- who used credit cards or PayPal to
purchase images of children in sexual situations. But the Pentagon
investigated only a handful of the cases, Defense Department records Slain 8-Year-Old Alleged Horrific Abuse in Her
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show. Life
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The cases turned up during a 2006 ICE inquiry, called Project Flicker, which
targeted overseas processing of child-porn payments. As part of the probe,
ICE investigators gained access to the names and credit card information
of more than 5,000 Americans who had subscribed to websites offering
images of child pornography. Many of those individuals provided military
email addresses or physical addresses with Army or fleet ZIP codes when
they purchased the subscriptions.

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In a related inquiry, the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service
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(DCIS) cross-checked the ICE list against military databases to come up
with a list of Defense employees and contractors who appeared to be guilty
of purchasing child pornography. The names included staffers for the
secretary of defense, contractors for the ultra-secretive National Security
Agency, and a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency. But the DCIS opened investigations into only 20 percent
of the individuals identified, and succeeded in prosecuting just a handful.

The Boston Globe first reported the Pentagon's role in Project Flicker in
AG Sessions says he 'didn't recall' several
July, citing DCIS investigative reports (PDF) showing that at least 30 times during press conference
Defense Department employees were investigated. 61 messages 2% 65% 33%

But new Project Flicker investigative reports obtained by The Upshot

through the Freedom of Information Act, which you can read here, show
that DCIS investigators identified 264 Defense employees or contractors
who had purchased child pornography online. Astonishingly, nine of those
had "Top Secret Sensitive Compartmentalized Information" security
clearances, meaning they had access to the nation's most sensitive
secrets. All told, 76 of the individuals had Secret or higher clearances. But
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DCIS investigated only 52 of the suspects, and just 10 were ever charged her, Now youre fable
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with viewing or purchasing child pornography. Without greater public
disclosure of how these cases wound down, it's impossible to know how or
whether any of the names listed in the Project Flicker papers came in for
additional scrutiny. It's conceivable that some of them were picked up by

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the investigation did not have their military careers disrupted in the context
of the DCIS inquiry. Search Sign in Mail

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Among those charged were Gary Douglass Grant, a captain in the Army
Reserves and a judge advocate general, or military prosecutor. After
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investigators executing a search warrant found child pornography on his Vikings: War of Clans Sponsored
computer, he pleaded guilty last year to state charges of possession of
obscene matter of a minor in a sexual act in California. Others included
contractors for the NSA with Top Secret clearances; one of them -- a
former contractor -- fled the country after being indicted and is believed to
be in Libya.

But the vast majority of those investigated, including an active-duty

lieutenant colonel in the Army and an official in the office of the secretary of
defense, were never charged. On top of that, 212 people on ICE's list were Representative Tom Cole on Attorney General
never investigated at all. Jeff Sessions choosing to recuse himself
9 messages 0% 78% 22%

According to the records, DCIS prioritized the investigations by focusing on

people who had security clearances -- since those who have a taste for
child pornography can be vulnerable to blackmail and espionage. The
documents show that the probe then concentrated on people who had been
previously suspected of or convicted of sex crimes, or had access to
children as part of their Defense Department duties. But at least some of
the people on the Project Flicker list with security clearances were never
pursued and could possibly remain on the job: DCIS only investigated 52 Sessions, under fire, recuses himself from
probe of Trump-Russia contacts
people, and 76 of those on the Project Flicker list had clearances.
1246 messages 2% 70% 28%

A DCIS spokesman didn't return phone calls. But the agency's own
documents obtained via The Upshot's FOIA request indicate that the
decision to press investigations forward hinged largely on questions of the
resources available to the investigators. "Due to DCIS headquarters'
direction and other DCIS investigative priorities, this investigation is
cancelled" is a common summation in the files.

A source familiar with the Project Flicker investigations -- who requested George W. Bush Breaks Down His Affection for
anonymity because public disclosure could jeopardize this person's job -- Michelle Obama: We Just Took to Each Other
2847 messages 6% 69% 25%
confirmed that departmental resources, and priorities, were decisive
factors in letting inquiries lapse.

DCIS is primarily tasked with rooting out contractor fraud and investigating
security breaches; its 400 staffers were already plenty busy before Project
Flicker dropped 264 more names onto their caseloads. And child
pornography investigations are difficult to prosecute. Many judges wouldn't
issue search warrants based on years-old evidence saying the targets
subscribed to a kiddie porn website once. RILAKKUMA limited edition!
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"We were stuck in a situation where we had some great information, but
didn't have the resources to run with it," the source told The Upshot. Many
of the investigative reports obtained by The Upshot end with a similar
citation of scarce resources:

Of course, other federal agencies, including ICE and the FBI, may have
prosecuted some of the Project Flicker names the DCIS ignored. But that's
unlikely, given that some of the DCIS investigations were closed due to lack
of cooperation from ICE.
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In one case, involving an Army Reserve corporal in the Pittsburgh area, a Crushed
586 messages 4% 71% 25%

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collaborate with him on the investigation: "Based upon the complete
non-responsiveness of ICE ... it is recommendedSearch
that [the] matter be Sign in Mail

closed."
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As for the 212 Project Flicker names that DCIS didn't investigate, the
source familiar with the investigation said there was no systematic effort to
inform their superiors or commanding officers of their suspected
Reuters photojournalist of the year: Damir
purchases of child pornography. Sagolj
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Previously at The Upshot:
Army colonel in Afghanistan fired for criticizing PowerPoint
Pentagon seeks anti-WikiLeaks technology
Ex-'Canadian Idol' contestant detained on terrorism charges

PHOTO: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Senators Coons and Blumenthal call for

Sessions recusal
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