A Navy SEAL has been charged in Virginia with making and possessing child pornography after a date rape investigation led to a search of his cell phone.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service says Gregory Kyle Seerden, who was assigned to SEAL Team One in San Diego, had photos showing the molestation of a sleeping prepubescent minor. His phone also contained a trove of other photos of children in sex acts, according to court documents first published by CBS News.
The charges were filed in a Virginia Beach federal court on March 31. They were unsealed Thursday, CBS reported.
Seerdon was being investigated for a sexual assault when his commander at the SEAL team authorized investigators to seize his cell phone data for evidence.
Forensic experts immediately found various images of child pornography they believed could have been gleaned from the Internet, according to the court document.
After obtaining a search warrant, NCIS ultimately discovered 78 images of children in pornographic poses or engaged in sex acts.
Investigators told the court they believe videos and photos on the phone were created by Seerdon and show him engaged in sexual acts near a sleeping child in early January.
NCIS began an initial investigation after a women reported she had been sexually assaulted by Seerdon at his hotel room on Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach. The sailor was on temporary duty at the base.
The woman told investigators she had gone out with Seerdon and blacked out after drinking alcohol, only remembering that he had been on top of her, according to the court document.
She woke up at 4 a.m. and Seerdon told her they had had sex. Investigators said he dropped her off at a base gate and she reported the assault to a guard.
