Former Physician at Veteran Affairs Medical Center Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offenses

BOSTON - A former physician employed at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Bedford, Mass., pleaded guilty on Aug. 27, 2026 in federal court in Boston to receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Sven Knudsen Ljaamo, 71, pleaded guilty on Aug. 27, 2026 to on one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Nov. 18, 2026. The defendant was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on April 23, 2025 and later indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2025.

According to the charging documents, law enforcement learned that over 100 files of suspected CSAM files had been uploaded to Ljaamo's Google account. Several CSAM files, along with tens of thousands of pornography files, were found during a review of Ljaamo's devices, including on a cell phone Ljaamo kept in his office at the VA Medical Center.

The charge of receipt of child pornography provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Billerica, Lowell and Salem Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Gonzalez Sanchez of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.