In the last three days, arrests and charges of several police officers and a chief of staff on Capital Hill has shown the tip of the iceberg of the expansive network of public servants of Washington DC who create and consume child pornography and prostitution.

The latest development is a D.C. police officer has been arrested on pandering charges after allegations that he was pimping out a 16-year old runaway girl from his apartment. Officer Linwood Barnhill Jr. was arrested by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and charged with two counts of Pandering of a Minor. He is a 24-year-veteran. He was recently found with a reported missing teenage girl in his apartment. The girl said she had met other women there as well, according to court documents.

In another development, the United States Senate legal counsel’s office informed Senator Lamar Alexander that law enforcement agents were searching the home of his chief of staff, Ryan Loskarn, in a child pornography investigation. Postal inspectors knocked in the door of a home in the 1800 block of Burke Street SE Wednesday morning. Investigators removed a half dozen bags and a computer from Loskarn’s home. Loskarn, 35, was taken into custody. He is charged with possessing and distributing child pornography. He is expected in federal court in D.C. Thursday, December 12, 2013.

In another development, 32-year-old DC police officer Marc Washington was arrested last week and charged with taking nude photographs of a missing 15-year-old girl who’d recently returned to her apartment. If convicted, he faced up to 30 years in prison. The Washington, D.C. officer was charged with producing child pornography while on duty. In a twist, after being released from jail and placed under 24 hour house arrest at his father’s home, he was found dead after being pulled from the Potomac River Tuesday evening, near Hains Point. He was wearing a GPS device so that police could monitor his movements, and the device was on his ankle when he was pulled from the water on Tuesday.

Finally, in another development, an unnamed DC officer was placed him on paid leave while it wraps up the investigation into running a prostitution ring. A teenage girl told investigators that she met the officer in question two weeks ago. The officer allegedly took nude photos of her in glossy shoes and arranged a meeting with another man who would pay her $80 for sex. The officer would reportedly get a $20 cut of the bill, though it’s not clear if the meeting ever occurred. Additionally, the teenage girl told authorities that six other women were working for the officer, and advertisements for the operation were posted on a website called backpage.com. When investigators arrived at his apartment, the officer let them in and informed them two women were in his room, the missing teen and an 18-year-old girl.

Child pornography and prostitution are known to be rampant in Washington DC — often to serve the perverted interests of those in powerful positions with such perverted tastes. Unfortunately, the Washington DC government, including Child and Family Services, the DC Public Schools and the DC Metropolitan Police Department are all populated by individuals who profit off of and protect this sex trade in DC.

Related articles