Just another case of Republican Family Values.
GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander’s chief of staff was arrested Wednesday afternoon on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography, the Justice Department said.
Jesse Ryan Loskarn — who goes by his middle name — is expected to be arraigned on Thursday morning in federal court.
“Jesse Ryan Loskarn, 35, of Washington, D.C., was arrested this afternoon by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service based on probable cause for possession and distribution of child pornography charges,” a Justice Department spokesman said in a statement. “He remains in custody pending a court hearing that is expected to be scheduled for tomorrow at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.”
Postal Service agents searched Loskarn’s home earlier in the day, and then took him into custody. Loskarn’s computer in Alexander’s office was also searched, with the senator’s permission, Senate sources said.
Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, subsequently removed Loskarn from his office’s payroll and promoted longtime aide David Cleary to the chief of staff job.
“The courts will judge Mr. Loskarn’s guilt or innocence, but under these circumstances, he cannot continue to fulfill his duties as chief of staff of this office. Therefore, as of today, I have removed him from the payroll,” Alexander said Wednesday afternoon.
Loskarn was removed from his home in handcuffs by federal agents shortly before 1 p.m. on Wednesday and driven away in an unmarked car. Agents from the U.S. Postal Service were on the scene at Loskarn’s home in southeast Washington, D.C. in the Hill East neighborhood on a quiet, tree-lined block of rowhouses near the Stadium-Armory Metro station.
