Former NPR science editor facing charges of child porn possession
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
February 27, 2009
A former award-winning science editor for National Public Radio has been charged with felony possession of child pornography, according to federal court documents.
David Malakoff, 46, of Alexandria, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, prosecutors said. His first court appearance at U.S. District Court in Washington has not been scheduled.
The details surrounding Malakoff’s case were not spelled out in the charging documents filed Tuesday, except to say that Malakoff possessed the illegal images between April 6 and June 3 in the District and elsewhere.
An NPR spokeswoman said Malakoff resigned in June, but she could not comment any further because the case was a pending legal matter.
Malakoff was charged by information, an indication that a plea agreement has been worked out because a person can be charged by information only if he or she waives the right to have a grand jury hear the evidence.
His attorney did not respond to a call for comment.
Malakoff is the second D.C.-based newsman charged with child pornography this month. Fox News Channel producer Aaron Bruns, 29, was arrested Feb. 6 after investigators raided his Dupont Circle-area apartment and said they found evidence that the journalist had offered to share graphic images of young children being raped.
Malakoff joined NPR in 2005 and helped oversee the media organization’s coverage of science, technology and the environment. He was a co-editor of “Climate Connections,” which won numerous national journalism awards in 2008 for its online coverage about how the Earth’s changing climate is shaping everyday lives.
Before NPR, Malakoff spent seven years at Science magazine covering the politics of science and research discoveries. His writing have appeared in the Economist, The Washington Post, and ABCNews.com.
smccabe@dcexaminer.com
