The former chief of staff in the D.C. mayor’s legal office pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing images of child porn through an online streaming platform, federal prosecutors announced.
The accusations against 37-year-old Thomas Moir, who worked in the Office of Legal Counsel, are disturbing. Police accused him of sharing multiple images of naked and exposed prepubescent girls—some of whom were engaged in sex acts—on a streaming platform called Rabbit towards the end of 2018.
Moir, a husband and father of a toddler, also allegedly engaged in live message and audio chats with individuals who were also sharing child pornography from his basement “gaming” computer.
“Petite little cuties!” Moir wrote in response to some of the shared images, according to a graphic affidavit. Individuals involved in the chat, including Moir, allegedly discussed “mutual masturbation” while viewing the images.
“Zero limits here man....” he allegedly wrote in one message, along with a smiley emoji. “Mmm little cockteases get what they deserve,” he wrote in another.
Moir had various usernames on the platform, including “BUNNY35950” and “FAPPY_STROKEZ,” authorities said. Many of his accounts were banned after Rabbit’s systems detected potential child pornography.
Images from at least one account were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for review, and were referred to the FBI. The agency subsequently searched Moir’s home, where they found the basement computer and discovered saved thumbnails of child porn on a laptop, according to authorities.
Moir, who had been working in D.C. government since 2016, was reportedly fired from Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office in January after the city learned about the charges against him. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. found no evidence that he used government property in his crime.
“The allegations are absolutely reprehensible. To the best of our knowledge, none of what is alleged took place at the workplace,” LaToya Foster, director of communications of the mayor’s office, told WJLA in March. “We have been and, if necessary, will continue working with law enforcement on this matter.”
Moir is slated to be sentenced in October, and faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender upon his release.
Request for comment from the D.C. mayor’s office and Moir’s attorneys were not returned at the time of publication.