Miami ICE Chief Busted With Kiddie Porn

When you aggressively make a name for yourself campaigning against child pornography, it might not be a good idea to be downloading such images yourself. Not the best career move, especially when you were about to retire.

The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for South Florida has been placed on paid administrative leave, as federal agents investigate four images of child pornography he allegedly received on his home computer via an AOL e-mail account, according to sources familiar with the probe.

Broward Sheriff’s Office and FBI investigators seized Anthony V. Mangione’s computer from his Parkland residence Saturday after obtaining a search warrant based on an alert from AOL, Mangione’s Internet service provider. Sources said Mangione, 50, who has headed the ICE regional office since 2007, was not believed to have received the pictures in connection with any ICE investigation.

The Justice Department probe could take a while to complete as investigators determine whether Mangione sent, received or distributed illegal digital images of children. “It’s going to take some time forensically to examine the computer,” a federal law enforcement official said.

AOL, which monitors the distribution of child pornography by its users, alerted a national nonprofit resource center about the images allegedly sent to Mangione’s computer in recent weeks, sources said. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children then forwarded the information to a multi-agency task force that investigates child-porn distribution over the Internet.

Investigators issued a subpoena to AOL to find out the identity and computer address of the account user who allegedly received the four images, sources said. The information provided the legal basis for the FBI to obtain the search warrant to enter Mangione’s home and seize his computer. Authorities also have seized his computer from ICE’s office in west Miami-Dade.