David Malokoff, who resigned as a science editor from NPR after being arrested for child pornography, received just five years probation from U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle, according to the Washington Examiner.

Malakoff apparently claimed he possessed the videos of children being assaulted for therapeutic reasons, trying to "relive his own rape" at age nine. Judge Hevelle bought that defense, concluding that Malakoff would be punished enough by his the "stigma" of his conviction.

According to the Examiner, over 100 of Malakoff's friends rallied around him. Washington Post reporter Brigid Schulte wrote the court asking for leniency, reports the paper, saying "He is an extraordinary soul. Tormented, yes. But throughout the darkness, he radiates goodness.... he does not deserve to be punished so severely a second time." 

Lining up against Malakoff's many friends and associates was a 19 year-old survivor of child pornography. "I wish I could grow out of the pain," the girl wrote in a victim impact statement. "I wish it could fade away with age, but just like those images are out there forever, those memories will always be with me.... I pray that that seeing justice done will bring me some closure."

The Examiner story also questions Malakoff's story of childhood abuse. 

"Defense attorneys provided a letter that Malakoff wrote in 1996 to a childhood friend who Malakoff believed witnessed the rape," writes reporter Scott McCabe. "Malakoff said he remembered playing in Rock Creek Park with friends... when a strange man showed up and pulled him into the woods.

"The former neighbor wrote back that he recalled that the man abducted another boy, not Malakoff.

"'I can still hear the scream that followed his being led into the woods,' the friend wrote. 'I can still feel the confusion and fear the rest of us had as we looked on..."

Judge Huvelle is well-known in Washington for  sentencing corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Congressman Bob Ney to prison. She sentenced a Maryland man to 14 years in prison in 2005 for identity theft crimes.

Another Beltway newsman faces a judge this week on child pornography charges. Aaron Bruns, 29, a former Fox News producer, is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow.

The law enforcement news blog Tickle the Wire has the Malkoff sentencing memorandum.