A U.S. Naval Academy midshipman accused of possessing more than 300 images of suspected child pornography will face a court-martial and possible prison time.
Michael Pollard, 22, of Florida, is charged with possessing and attempting to distribute child pornography between July 2003 and August 2007.
The decision to move forward with the court-martial came from academy Superintendent and Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, who is the convening officer of the case.
“The superintendent made the decision to refer this case to general court-martial after careful consideration of all available evidence,” said Deborah Goode, an academy spokeswoman.
A hearing date has not been set.
If convicted, the first-class (senior) midshipman faces dismissal from service, fines or a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
During a preliminary hearing last week to determine whether a court-martial was necessary, Naval Criminal Investigative Services agents said several hundred images were found on a portable hard drive attached to Pollard?s dormitory computer at the academy in Annapolis.
His roommate alerted academy officials after inadvertently seeing the images on Pollard?s computer, authorities said.
Another laptop Pollard possessed before giving it to his mother also contained images and file-sharing software that military officials believe allowed Internet users to access the pornographic files.
The NCIS agents said several images were confirmed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to be those of minors.
Pollard did not give a statement at the hearing.
But his attorney Larry Burch during the hearing said when the files were deleted was unknown, implying that they may have been accidentally downloaded.
However, NCIS investigators said the files were hidden in folders numbered exactly to Pollard?s birthday.
The agents also said Pollard may have hindered the investigation by reinstalling one of his computer?s operating systems after the allegations surfaced.
Burch did not return calls for comment.
The case comes after a series of alleged sexual crimes involving midshipmen or officials working at the academy. Another midshipman could face a court-martial for charges of rape.
Several midshipmen interviewed Thursday said the incidents do not point to a bigger problem.
“What those people may have done is ruining the reputation that the majority of us have worked for,” said Stephanie Motsay, a first-class midshipman from Catonsville.
