U.S. Secret Service Officer Indicted for Attempting to Send Obscene Images to a Minor

A federal grand jury in Wilmington, Delaware, indicted a resident of Church Hill, Maryland, today on one count of attempting to transfer obscene materials to a minor, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III of the District of Delaware announced today. 

Lee Robert Moore, 37, was employed by the U.S. Secret Service-Uniformed Division and was assigned to the White House at the time of his arrest.  Moore was arrested on Nov. 9, 2015, and has remained in custody since that time.

According to the indictment and court documents filed in the case, Moore allegedly maintained a profile on the social media application “Meet24,” which provides a mobile-based platform for exchanging digital images, as well as voice and text messages.  Delaware State Police Detectives with the Delaware Child Predator Task Force created a profile on this site, posing as a 14-year-old girl, with whom Moore allegedly engaged in a number of online chat sessions, via the “Meet24” and “Kik” mobile apps over a two-month period, including while Moore was at work.  A number of the online chats allegedly between Moore and the supposed female minor were sexual in nature and, on several occasions, Moore allegedly sent pictures of himself, including one depicting his penis. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Delaware Child Predator Task Force conducted the investigation.  Trial Attorney Amy E. Larson of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. McAndrew of the District of Delaware are prosecuting the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.