Federal Complaint Against Loskarn Details Child Porn Allegations
Jesse Ryan Loskarn, former chief of staff for Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., allegedly purchased and attempted to distribute child pornography, according to a complaint filed Thursday in federal court.
Inspectors searching his Southeast D.C. residence recovered a portable Toshiba hard drive containing a compilation of explicit scenes which he allegedly had tried to distribute online.
In the statement of facts filed with the court, Postal Inspector Brian Bone said authorities had to use a “ram” to force entry into Loskarn’s residence after knocking, announcing they had a search warrant and receiving no response.
Loskarn allegedly placed the Toshiba hard drive on the roof of his home during the sweep of the residence. An officer watching the perimeter noticed him opening a window, which led to recovery of the device.
After the search, Loskarn agreed to cooperate with investigators, but did not admit to placing the hard drive outside. He did admit to owning a Toshiba hard drive.
The raid was the culmination of an investigation that began more than three years ago, in October 2010.
Law enforcement agents first identified Loskarn, 35, as an active customer of a movie production company specializing in child pornography in the fall of 2010, according to the criminal complaint filed Thursday. At that point, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Toronto Police Service began investigating.
A review of customer receipts and invoices show Loskarn made several purchases between November 2010 and March 2011, with transactions showing a billing and shipping address matching his Washington, D.C., residence. The statement of facts describes in detail “recovered digital media” of child pornographic videos on the Toshiba hard drive, as well as a forensic trail of file-sharing networks consistent with sharing child pornography.
Loskarn has been in the custody of U.S. Marshals since Wednesday afternoon. He is being arraigned in the federal courthouse in downtown D.C., about two blocks from the Capitol, on Thursday afternoon.
