In an ironic turn of events, a journalist for The Washington Post who won a prestigious award several years ago for his part in reporting on dubious allegations of sexual misconduct with minors that ruined an Alabama Republican's political career is now facing similarly damning criminal allegations of his own.

Thomas Pham LeGro, 48, a senior video editor for The Post, was arrested this week and charged with possession of child pornography by Washington D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, according to the New York Post.

LeGro was previously part of a team of journalists who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for their reports a year earlier on unsubstantiated allegations that former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with underage teen girls decades earlier, which succeeded in killing Moore's candidacy for a U.S. Senate seat.

Found in possession of child pornography

In a Friday press release from the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office, it was revealed that LeGro had been arrested on Thursday after FBI agents executed a search warrant on his home and discovered a folder on his work laptop that allegedly contained at least "11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material."

During the search, agents also found "fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro’s work laptop was found."

LeGro was subsequently taken into custody and is being investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is tasked with investigating and charging "individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking."

Ordered held in custody for now

Local NBC affiliate WRC-TV reported that LeGro was arraigned by a magistrate judge on Friday on the possession of child pornography charge and was ordered to be held in detention until another hearing that is scheduled for Wednesday.

According to an FBI affidavit, agents found LeGro attempting to block a set of stairs to the basement where his office was located, where agents found his work laptop that allegedly contained the illicit child pornography, as well as the empty cover and broken pieces of a computer hard drive in the hall outside the office.

The affidavit further described the content of some of the videos that agents had discovered on the computer and revealed that the FBI had been monitoring LeGro's internet activities since early May.

The Post reported that the FBI affidavit also exposed how LeGro was linked to multiple accounts for a former digital payment service known as E-Gold that was shut down in 2007 after it was accused of facilitating payments and laundering money for child pornographers

Placed on leave by his employer

According to the New York Post, LeGro first began working for The Washington Post in 2000 as part of the newspaper's sports department before leaving to join PBS' "Newshour" program for several years as a producer and reporter, only to return to The Post in 2013 as a video editor.

He was part of The Post's team that won a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting that sunk Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore's 2017 special election campaign with unconfirmed allegations of sexual misconduct with underage girls decades earlier -- allegations that Moore strongly denied.

In response to the news of LeGro's arrest and criminal charge, a spokesperson for the newspaper said, "The Washington Post understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave."

If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.