WILMINGTON, Del. -- A Secret Service officer charged with trying to solicit sex from an undercover agent he thought was a 14-year-old girl also had online sex chats with actual young girls and had a small arsenal of weapons at his home, federal prosecutors asserted Thursday in court filings.
They said a preliminary investigation indicates that Lee Robert Moore, who was arrested in an online sex sting has had online contact with two young girls.
Moore, who worked as a uniformed officer at the White House, surrendered to police Nov. 9 after being placed on administrative leave a week earlier. He faces federal and state charges.
"We are investigating that further," prosecutor Ed McAndrew said after a Thursday hearing. He added that the investigation could uncover similar contact with still more young girls.
"Simply put, defendant sought to use mobile technology to sexually exploit multiple minor, teenage girls from one of the most secure places on the planet. He did so while in the presence of other highly trained law enforcement officers and just yards from the President of the United States, his family, and senior administration officials he was then protecting," prosecutors wrote.
Judge Sherry Fallon agreed to postpone until Dec. 2 a detention hearing on the government's motion that Moore, 37, remain in pretrial custody.
Moore's public defender, Eleni Kousoulis, told Fallon that the defence will submit papers by Nov. 30 arguing that Moore should be released into the custody of his wife and parents, with certain conditions.
Prosecutors submitted court papers raising concerns about Moore's alleged contact with young girls, as well as a small arsenal of weapons at his home, including military-style, assault-type rifles, many of them loaded and unsecured.
According to the prosecution's court filing, which includes photos he sent to detectives, Moore admitted in a recorded interview that he had online sexual chats with several young girls, initially saying "it could be four, it could be thirty," before asserting that number was closer to 10. He also allegedly told investigators that he has a sexual interest in 14-year-old girls, "the absolute minimum" in terms of age.
Moore posted $105,000 secured bond last week on state charges of sexual solicitation of a child under 18 and providing obscene material to a minor.
Moore's arrest brings new scrutiny to a federal agency already reeling from a series of scandals stretching back to 2012, when more than a dozen agents and officers were implicated in hiring prostitutes during a South American presidential trip. Since then, multiple agents and officers have been accused of wrongdoing.
Former agency director Julia Pierson was ousted last year after the disclosure of two security breaches, including an incident in which a man armed with a knife was able to scale a White House fence and run deep into the executive mansion.
