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VA hospital doctor arrested on child pornography charges
Investigators allegedly found tens of thousands of pornographic photos and videos, many of which depicted children.
A doctor at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Bedford was arrested Wednesday and charged with possessing and receiving child pornography, prosecutors said.
Sven Knudsen Ljaamo, 70, of Billerica, has been charged with one count each of receipt and possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a press release. Ljaamo was arrested Wednesday morning and detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for April 29 after appearing in federal court in Boston.
The Billerica Police Department received a CyberTip on Jan. 23 which revealed that Ljaamo had allegedly uploaded 108 files of suspected child pornography to his Google account between May 8, 2024 and Sept. 10, 2024, according to an affidavit.
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During an investigation at Ljaamo’s home March 21, he allegedly admitted to viewing, saving, and downloading pornographic material involving female minors. Ljaamo also allegedly confirmed in a written statement that he had bookmarked and accessed several sites containing child pornography, the affidavit says.
Investigators allegedly found tens of thousands of pornographic images and videos, several of which depicted children, on Ljaamo’s devices, including on a cell phone which he kept in his office at VA Medical Center, the affidavit says.
Ljaamo could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge, according to the press release. The charge of receipt requires a sentence of at least five years in prison with up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
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The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, the press release said. The initiative aims to find and prosecute people who exploit children and identify and rescue victims.
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