(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Shortly before he was arrested on child pornography charges, an FBI scientist was seen photographing young girls walking to school while he sat inside his FBI-issued vehicle, the Justice Department disclosed Tuesday.
The DOJ’s disclosure came in a sentencing memo for Cary Andre Rue, pled guilty on August 4 to one count of advertisement for child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, and one count of possession of CSAM. The DOJ seeks a 262-month sentence for the former FBI microbiologist.
“Outwardly, the defendant was a married father and career employee at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), supervising employees in the Operational Microbiology Program. Secretly, however, the defendant spent numerous hours on encrypted messaging platforms chatting with, and whetting the appetites of, individuals interested in the sexual abuse of children and trafficking images and videos of children being abused and raped,” the DOJ said in its memo, which was first reported by CourtWatch.
“Shortly before his arrest, the defendant photographed young girls walking to school while he sat inside his FBI-issued vehicle,” prosecutors added.
"The defendant photographed young girls walking to school while he sat inside his FBI-issued vehicle." https://t.co/4kfYMI9PFq pic.twitter.com/wnnXtttJKN
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) November 13, 2026
Rue was first put under investigation after Google submitted multiple tips in September 2025 about his email account to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to charging documents, Google reported that Rue had uploaded more than 50 files of suspected child pornography to his Google Drive account.
In April of this year, the FBI executed search warrants on more than 25 electronic devices owned by Rue—allegedly finding more than 3,000 sexually explicit videos depicting minors as young as babies. Agents also allegedly found Rue talking about finding teenage prostitutes the next time he goes overseas, and insinuating that he had sex with minors in Bulgaria.
He was arrested on May 4 and indicted shortly thereafter.
Rue resides in Stafford, Virginia, maintained an office at the FBI lab in Quantico, and had a top secret security clearance, according to court records.
He’s set to be sentenced on Tuesday.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
