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Politics & Government

TSA Agent at Logan Airport Caught Up in Kiddie Porn Sting

The Chelsea resident was one of 55 individuals charged with illegally possessing images of underage children yesterday, following a multi-agency crackdown on child pornography.

A man tasked with maintaining security at Logan Airport was caught up in a week-long child pornography sting, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Transportation Security Administration agent Jose E. Salgado, 59, of Chelsea was suspended from his duties after his employers learned local law enforcement agencies are pursuing criminal charges against him for possessing and sharing pornographic images of children.

“TSA has been cooperating fully with our law enforcement partners during the investigation into this matter,” TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis told the Boston Herald. “Upon learning of these charges, TSA took immediate action and the individual is not working at the airport.”

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The TSA has been under fire for its hiring practices, following periodic arrests of agents across the country, who are tasked with patting down the traveling public and ensuring the safety of the airways. According to the Herald, at least two other TSA officers assigned to Logan Airport have faced sex charges in the past two years.

While no South Enders were caught up in the sting, according to the website City-Data.com, the City of Boston had 114 registered sex offenders as of August, 2011, and many listed addresses in the South End, with the .

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Additionally, the revelation that an official authorized to conduct “pat-frisk” searches on travelers—including children—is facing child pornograpy charges may certainly give some residents pause when next planning to travel through Logan Airport.

All told, cops nabbed 55 Massachusetts men in the sweeping, multi-agency child pornography crackdown known as Operation Corral.

Salgado was unavailable for comment, the Herald said, and he has been charged but has not been arrested.

"This is just a drop in the bucket,” state police Sgt. Michael Hill of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force told the Herald. “We’re going to be doing this for a long time.” 

Suspects were targeted in East Boston, Hyde Park and Revere, along with a multitude of other Bay State communities. Authorities say they are currently pursuing charges in eight more cases, and 14 investigations remain ongoing.

Operation Corral kicked off in January, when representatives of local, state and federal agencies started looking into computer-based file exchange networks—once used predominantly for sharing music, but now a hotbed for illegal photos and videos.

“The availability of child pornography on peer-to-peer networks is disturbing in itself, but equally disturbing is the ease with which they can be created, duplicated, and disseminated with the click of a mouse,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley in a statement. “We can’t shred them. We can’t burn them. What we can do is identify, locate, and prosecute the men who make and distribute them. We’re doing that today, and we won’t stop until all our work is done.”

In light of these disturbing events, we want to know: Will these revelatations make you think twice before taking your children through airport security? Or, do you believe this is an isolated incident, and shouldn’t be used to cast aspersions on the integrity of TSA agents as a whole?

Tell us below in the comments.


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