Child Pornography Charges

A Corporal of Marines was accused of receipt, possession, and distribution of child pornography at a general court-martial. The Corporal was facing nearly the rest of his life in confinement, as well as registration as a sex offender.  The Corporal was found guilty of a lesser included offense of attempted receipt of child pornography but not guilty of all charged child pornography offenses.  At sentencing, the jury members awarded only a six-month confinement and a punitive discharge; at the conclusion of the trial, a post-trial agreement was struck between the Corporal and his command to vacate the lesser included offense of attempted receipt of child pornography and suspend the punitive discharge.  The Corporal was administratively discharged with an other-than-honorable-characterization of service and does not need to register as a sex offender.
(Healy, 2012)

At a general court-martial, a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps was accused of possessing child pornography and obscene animated depictions of minors, order violations, and assault on another Marine.  The Lance Corporal was facing several decades of confinement time and registration as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Through a pre-trial agreement, the Lance Corporal pled guilty only to the possession of obscene material charges, entered pleas of not guilty to the other charges, spent less than ten months in confinement, and did not have to register as a sex offender in his state of residency.
(Healy, 2011)