An Interesting Omission in Press Release About Head of Fla. ICE Being Busted for Child Porn

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

The press release issued Wednesday out of the Justice Department seemed a little peculiar if only because of a glaring omission.

“Florida Man Indicted for Transportation, Receipt, and Possession of Child Pornography” the headline of the press release read.

It went on to mention the name of the person, Anthony Mangione, 50, of Parkland, Fla., but made no mention anywhere in the 7-paragraph press release that he happened to be the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida,  a very prominent position in law enforcement.

Contrast that press release headline to the one that appeared in the Miami Herald website on Wednesday:

“Top immigration official pleads not guilty to child-porn charges in federal court.”

The Justice Department may not have seen the point in including the job title. But it might be germane considering that ICE has been involved in some of the biggest child porn busts in the nation. In fact, in August ICE was involved in a major child porn takedown involving charges against 72 people worldwide.

Laura Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, responded by saying: “We include information in the release that is reflected in the public record. The indictment doesn’t mention his position or employer, therefore neither does the release.”

What the release did say was that Mangione was arrested Tuesday after an indictment was unsealed on charges that alleged that between March 2010 and September 2010, Mangione “transported and received visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also alleges that Mangione possessed electronically stored messages that contained additional images of child pornography during the same time period.”

The Miami Herald reported that he showed no emotion during his initial court appearance in West Palm Beach.

He had headed the Florida regional ICE office since 2007.  The Herald, citing sources, said he had not received any child porn in connection with an ICE investigation.

 

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