A Department of Education employee left government computers vulnerable to hacking after downloading a virus while searching for ‘naked toddlers’, ‘little boys’, a and references to child rape, a report has revealed.

Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by DailyMail.com show the staffer typed in at least 18 illicit searches on his taxpayer-funded computer - included references to child porn.

The phrases he looked for in September, 2014, included: ‘Very young little girls’, ‘naked toddler’ and ‘too young boy’.

Other search terms allude to bestiality involving children and child rape.

As a result, his computer was infected with malware, putting massive databases at risk, including student loan information.

Once a computer is infected with the software, cyber criminals can access data by logging keystrokes or monitoring the computer's activity.

A Department of Education employee (pictured) left government computers vulnerable to hacking after downloading a virus while searching for ‘naked toddlers’, ‘little boys’, a and references to child rape, a report has revealed

Investigators then searched his government computer and found ‘graphic images of nude and nearly nude children as well as graphically drawn images of children engaging in sexual acts with adults’.

They then searched the employee’s home and found 13 images of child porn on his computer.

The employee, whose name has been kept hidden in the files, denied any wrongdoing and insisted he entered the search terms to test the system’s website-blocking protocols.

He was suspended during the investigations but then retired from government employee.

His identity remains under wraps because the case was not prosecuted.

The investigation was carried out by the Department of Education’s Inspector General, but reports are not often made public.

But DailyMail.com uncovered the record while looking through investigations into misconduct my staff members.

The document reads: ‘During the forensic examination of the computer, multiple anti -virus scans of the computer with different anti-virus products found potentially malicious files, but the creation date of those files significantly pre-dated the date on which the traffic that alerted the malware sensor occurred.’

‘In order to determine the cause of the malware detection, OCIO began a review of web history and browser artifacts on the subject computer. During this review, on December 3, 2014, OCIO recovered from the browser cache on the computer graphic photo images of nude and nearly nude children as well as graphically drawn images of children engaging in sexual acts with adults.

‘Upon discovering images that could be construed as child exploitation, OCIO immediately ceased the review of the computer and notified the Technology Crimes Division (TCD) of the Office of

‘Inspector General for the Department of Education (ED OIG). On December 3, 2014, TCD reviewed the material discovered by OCIO and determined it to be nearly identical to material from another investigation that resulted in prosecution for possession of child exploitation images. TCD took possession of the forensic image as well as the hard drive from the computer, which had been retained by OCIO personnel.

Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by DailyMail.com show the staffer typed in at least 18 illicit searches on his taxpayer-funded computer - included references to child porn

The phrases he looked for in September, 2014, included: ‘Very young little girls’, ‘naked toddler’ and ‘too young boy’. Other search terms allude to bestiality involving children and child rape

As a result, his computer was infected with malware, putting massive databases at risk, including student loan information

‘A second forensic image of the computer hard drive was obtained and examined by TCD. The digital forensic examination was completed on April 15, 2015.

'The examination revealed thirteen images of apparent minors and possibly pre-pubescent children in various levels of undress, including one engaged in sexual activity.’

The employee was suspended indefinitely without pay during the probe.

But federal prosecutors with the Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to prosecute the case because there was 'minimal federal interest and no deterrent value'.

He escaped internal punishment within the Department of Education and was allowed to retire.

Arne Duncan was Education Secretary at the time (2014). He was appointed by President Obama

The Department of Education did not respond to multiple requests from DailyMail.com for comment.

Arne Duncan was Education Secretary at the time. He was appointed by President Obama.

This case is not the first time a government employee has used their issued computer to search for illicit images or potentially hack into dataebases.

In 2015, an investigation by DailyMail.com found Department of Education employees had been caught stealing students' personal information to apply for loans, credit cards and set up new cell phone accounts.

Reports on breaches of staff conduct inside the Department of Education shows how workers stole social security numbers from a database while a man was fired for trying to look up President Barack Obama’s student loan records.

In July 2015, DailyMail.com uncovered that Department of Health and Human Services employees have infected their computers with potentially dangerous viruses by watching pornography.

Documents from another Freedom of Information request showed many HHS staffers were investigated after pornographic videos and photos were found on their government-issued computers - and one was given counselling instead of being fired.

In June of the same year, Daily Mail Online revealed a Department of Labor employee admitted that he downloaded pornography on his government computer every day for months while on the job, but it took the cabinet-level agency 15 weeks to fire him.

The documents show the unnamed staffer was terminated in December, nearly four months after a co-worker blew the whistle on him with a formal complaint.

Investigators with the agency's Office of Inspector General seized his hard drive and learned he had 'visited pornographic sites for several hours a day' in the first eight months of 2014.

The man claimed he started feeding his habit by searching for pictures of actress Alyssa Milano on his work computer.

A few months earlier, in February, an investigation by Daily Mail Online revealed how government employees had been caught stealing students' personal information to apply for loans, credit cards and set up new cell phone accounts.

Reports on breaches of staff conduct inside the Department of Education shows how workers stole social security numbers from a database while a man was fired for trying to look up President Barack Obama's student loan records.