Loskarn was a top Senate aide until Dec. 11. | Courtesy, AP Photo | Courtesy Judge explains Loskarn ruling

A federal judge overseeing the child pornography case against an ex-Senate chief of staff on Tuesday gave an explanation on why he believes releasing Jesse Ryan Loskarn from custody earlier this month was a “tolerable risk.”

In a two-page court document filed Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola wrote that court restrictions on Loskarn’s Internet access and enrollment in a high-intensity supervision program “will reduce to a tolerable risk the danger he presents.” Loskarn was released on his own recognizance Dec. 16 after being arrested five days prior on child pornography accusations.


“Moreover, the defendant, an education man who held a senior staff position in the United States Senate, surely appreciates now, if he did not appreciate it before, how law enforcement can track those who download child pornography from the Internet,” Facciola said.

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“I concluded, therefore, that the risk of his resuming the downloading of child pornography is not great,” he continued in the memorandum filed Tuesday afternoon.

Facciola said pre-trial limits on Web access for Loskarn were appropriate even though a federal appeals court panel in Washington rejected similar restrictions for a convicted offender in a case decided earlier this month. The judge noted that Loskarn had consented to the Internet ban, and that it was imposed on a pre-trial basis pending the case’s outcome.

Federal prosecutors have “what appears to be a very strong case” against Loskarn, Facciola added in the memorandum.

Loskarn, who was Sen. Lamar Alexander’s (R-Tenn.) top aide until his arrest Dec. 11 on child pornography allegations, has been living with his parents in Sykesville, Md, since his release. The Justice Department has accused Loskarn of sharing and possessing child pornography for several years.

As a condition of his release, Loskarn is banned from Internet access and must wear an ankle bracelet. His parents, Chuck and Laura, have said the only Internet-capable devices in their home are password-protected iPads.

The judge has also approved a 30-day delay on a deadline for a grand jury indictment on child pornography charges in the Loskarn case. The original target date was Jan. 11, 2014, but that’s now been pushed back to Feb. 10.

The delay was requested because of the holiday season and attorneys would not be in the office for much of late December and early January.

“Much of the forensic work has not yet been completed and the defense has not yet been provided any substantive discovery,” lawyers wrote in a court document filed Dec. 18. That filing also indicated that attorneys were looking into the “possibility of a pre-indictment disposition.”

Pam Satterfield, one of Loskarn’s attorneys, declined to comment Tuesday on Facciola’s memo.

Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.

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