Child-Porn Sentence for Uncle Sam’s Tech Guy

OMAHA, Neb. (CN) - A federal judge handed down a 25-year sentence to a former tech chief for the U.S. government who fantasized about raping and murdering children.

Before he went to trial this summer, Timothy DeFoggi, 56, of Germantown, Md, was the director of cyber security for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A jury convicted DeFoggi on Aug. 26, after a four-day trial, of engaging in a child-exploitation enterprise, conspiracy to advertise and distribute child pornography, and accessing a computer with intent to view child pornography.

Prosecutors showed that "DeFoggi registered as a member of the Tor-network-based child pornography website on March 2, 2012, and maintained his membership and activity until Dec. 8, 2012, when the website was taken down by the FBI," according to a statement Monday from the Justice Department.

"Through the website, DeFoggi accessed child pornography, solicited child pornography from other members, and exchanged private messages with other members in which he expressed an interest in the violent rape and murder of children," the statement continues. "DeFoggi suggested meeting one member in person to fulfill their mutual fantasies to violently rape and murder children."

Tor is defined in the statement as "an Internet application specifically designed to facilitate anonymous communication."

"Acting under the cloak of anonymity, users advised others on best practices to prevent detection by law enforcement, including advice about the proper use of encryption software, techniques to hide or password-protect child pornography collections, and programs to remove data from a user's computer," the statement continues.

Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp in Omaha gave DeFoggi a 25-year sentence Monday.

The Justice Department notes that it has convicted five others as part of its "ongoing investigation targeting three Tor-network-based child pornography websites."

The single administrator who ran those websites, Aaron McGrath, was convicted in Nebraska, as well, and sentenced last year to 20 years in prison.

Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon sentenced McGrath and the other four: Jason Flanary, Wesley Cameron, Zackary Austin and Charles MacMillan.

The Justice Department attributes these convictions to "Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006."

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