Former Senate Aide Facing Child Porn Charges Released on Bail

Ryan Loskarn, the former chief of staff to Senator Lamar Alexander, was released from police custody Monday and ordered to remain at his parents’ house while he awaits trial on child pornography charges, a federal judge ordered.

Loskarn was arrested last week as part of a long-running investigation by the US Postal Inspection Service and police in Toronto into a Canadian website that sold DVDs and streaming videos. “The majority of these films feature young nude boys,” the complaint against Loskarn reads. Alexander, a Tennesee Republican, fired Loskarn after his arrest.

Court documents state that an IP address originating from Loskarn’s Capitol Hill home appeared on a file-sharing network offering files with titles consistent with child pornography, and that he made several purchases from the website between November 2010 and March 2011. In court today, prosecutors alleged Loskarn’s computer contained more than 200 videos when it was seized.

According to the terms of Loskarn’s release, he will stay under house arrest at his parents’ residence in Maryland, where he will be required to wear an electronic tracking device. He is also prohibited from using any device that can connect to the Internet.

Loskarn’s next hearing has not been scheduled yet.