--- description: The former head of cyber security at the Department of Health and Human Services was convicted on child pornography charges. title: Former Government Cybersecurity Head Convicted on Child Porn Charges image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8c2c87b70a51d92/6986a100d0b6f25967305d63/department-health-human-services.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Former Government Cybersecurity Head Convicted on Child Pornography Charges  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2014 9:56 PM CUT  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is shown in Washington, D.C., 21 July 2007. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is shown in Washington, D.C., 21 July 2007.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2014 9:56 PM CUT The former acting head of cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [was convicted on child pornography charges](http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/August/14-crm-900.html "undefined") in a Nebraska federal court, the Department of Justice said Tuesday. The former official, Timothy DeFoggi, allegedly expressed interest in the violent rape and murder of children in online exchanges and at one point suggested meeting up with another web user to fulfill such fantasies, the Justice Department said in a statement. DeFoggi, 56, was convicted of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, conspiracy to advertise and distribute child pornography, and accessing a computer with intent to view child pornography, according to the DOJ. He was the sixth person convicted in an ongoing investigation into three child pornography websites, the DOJ said. The administrator of the sites has previously been convicted of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. According to the Justice Department, DeFoggi registered on the site in March 2012 and was active until it was taken down in December of that year. It’s unclear if his illegal activity overlapped with his work for the government. In an [HHS budget report](http://www.hhs.gov/budget/fy2014/fy2014-phssef.pdf "undefined") for Fiscal Year 2014 that was found by the Washington _Post_, a Tim DeFoggi is identified as head of OS IT Security Operations for the department. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3183177/child-porn-health-human-services/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3183177/child-porn-health-human-services/"},"headline":"Former Government Cybersecurity Head Convicted on Child Pornography Charges","datePublished":"2014-08-26T21:56:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:52:12.781Z","description":"He is the sixth person convicted in an ongoing DOJ investigation of three child pornography sites","url":"https://time.com/3183177/child-porn-health-human-services/","keywords":["Crime","Pornography","Department of Justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8c2c87b70a51d92/6986a100d0b6f25967305d63/department-health-human-services.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8c2c87b70a51d92/6986a100d0b6f25967305d63/department-health-human-services.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The US Department of Health and Human Se","caption":"The US Department of Health and Human Se","creditText":"Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3183177/child-porn-health-human-services/","name":"Former Government Cybersecurity Head Convicted on Child Pornography Charges"}}]}] ```