War On You: Breaking Alternative News

Several Pentagon officials and defense contractors, including some with high-level security clearance, are under investigation for possessing child pornography, The Boston Globe reported today.

Employees of the National Security Agency and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, are among the alleged offenders, according to the Globe, and in a number of instances, government computers were used to obtain the material.

Charles Dharapak, AP

A major federal investigation has identified dozens of members of the military and defense contractors, including some with top-level security clearances, as having obtained child pornography.

The alleged misconduct on the part of personnel with access to government secrets poses a “risk of blackmail, bribery and threats, especially since these individuals typically have access to military installations,” according to a report from the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office quoted by the Globe.

The investigations have been going on since 2002, and while some individuals have been prosecuted and other cases have been dropped, a number remain open, the newspaper said. In one instance, an NSA contractor with top-secret clearance is believed to have fled to Libya after being indicted two years ago, according to a summary of the investigation cited by the Globe.

The Globe said a spokesman for the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office declined to comment on specific investigations but said the agency treats such probes very seriously.

Read more at The Boston Globe.