A U.S. Navy petty officer first class formerly of Vienna was charged this week with receiving child pornography after federal investigators linked him to online accounts and he reportedly admitted to downloading some of the pictures while on board the destroyer USS Mason, federal court documents said.
Daniel J. Sweeney, 28, was taken to the brig Wednesday from his station on the guided missile cruiser USS Anzio in Norfolk, a Navy spokesman said.
Between April 2006 and early June 2007, Sweeney downloaded nearly 2,000 images of child pornography from Web sites he gained access to by paying a monthly fee, court records said. The images were discovered after federal officials searched his Vienna home in June 2007.
When federal officials questioned Sweeney he reportedly told them he also sometimes accessed sites while on board the USS Mason, despite warnings to stop from fellow sailors who saw him do so, records show. Sweeney told investigators he tried to quit and had gone to counseling.
