A former staffer for Senate Republicans and the Republican National Committee was arrested on child pornography charges at his home in Washington, D.C.
Ruben Verastigui, 27, allegedly admitted being part of a child porn ring, authorities said. He was charged with distributing child pornography after a year-long investigation, according to the D.C. Metropolitan Police.
Verastigui received videos of children being abused as part of an online group called Application A, investigators said.
A raid on Verastigui’s apartment uncovered several files of child pornography on his cellphone and other footage of a sexually abused child, according to a criminal complaint.
At the time of his arrest, Verastigui was employed by the nonprofit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions in the communications department.
“The details of the allegations against Mr. Verastigui are tragic and shocking,” the nonprofit said in a statement to The Post. “He is no longer employed by the organization and we are prepared to fully cooperate with law enforcement requests in this matter to any extent needed.”
Prior to joining the nonprofit in July, Verastigui, who has been involved in pro-life groups, worked for two years for the U.S. Senate, including a year and a half as a senior digital strategist for the Senate Republican Committee, and nine months as digital director of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His connection to the GOP was first reported on Twitter by Jared Holt, resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.
