Maryland man sentenced to 8 years for using Library of Congress wifi to download child pornography

A former Architect of the Capitol employee who worked at the Library of Congress was sentenced on Wednesday to eight years in prison for using the Library’s wireless network to download images and videos of children being sexually abused.

Gary Lee Peksa pled guilty in December to a child pornography charge and will be placed on supervised release for 20 years after leaving prison.

Peksa regularly used the WiFi at the Library of Congress to access child sex abuse material, the court determined, which he would view on his cellphone in the bathroom, his office and a breakroom.

U.S. Capitol Police seized Peksa’s cellphone after the Library of Congress was notified of traffic on its WiFi network related to the sexual exploitation of children.

Officials also found that Peksa accessed child abuse material over his laptop and cellphone at home, each containing hundreds of files.

Peksa will be registered as a sex offender for at least 15 years and will be required to pay $47,000 to the victims of sexual abuse depicted in the photos and videos he viewed.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force in conjunction with police. The Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative was also involved.