NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- A U.S. Navy SEAL based in California is facing child pornography charges related to a case that originated in Hampton Roads.
Joshua Stueve, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, said 31-year-old Gregory Seerden was arrested in San Diego on April 3.
An initial investigation involving Seerden began when a woman accused him of sexual assault in January. She said they had gone out for drinks the night before the alleged attack.
She told the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) she later began to black out and couldn't remember some events of that night clearly.
Court documents state that she recalled being with Seerden in his hotel room on Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story where he was on temporary duty.
The woman remembered that Seerden was on top of her at some point. She also said she remembered telling him to stop, but could not recall anything other details. She reported the alleged assault to a gate gentry at JEBLCFS Gate 5.
Court paperwork also states that Seerden told her the next morning that they had had sex.
Investigators took Seerden's cell phone to find potential evidence in the assault investigation. That was when NCIS came across pictures and videos of children engaged/engaging in sex acts.
Agents said they found more than six dozen images. Some showed naked children engaged in sex acts. At least one showed a child an aroused naked man. There were other images that hinted at bestiality.
Investigators noted another photo and four videos stood out. They were taken/created between January 1, 2017 and January 2, 2017 and showed a girl who appeared to be about 5 or 6 years old. NCIS said the videos and image were created using the phone that agents searched.
The videos showed a man performing different sex acts on a young girl while she's sleeping.
There also was a picture in which Seerden was in a bed with two boys and two girls reading a children's book.
Comparing images, investigators determined one of the girls in the picture is the same girl recorded in video. Court documents note she is not from Virginia.
All the charges Seerden is facing are felony charges.
13News Now reached out to the Navy to try and get more information. We still are waiting to hear back from someone.
Stueve said that Seerden was in the custody of the U. S. Marshals Service Friday and on his way to Norfolk where he will appear in federal court. Stueve added that Seerden faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years for Production of Child Pornography.
Gregory Seerden Affidavit by 13News Now on Scribd
Gregory Seerden Indictment by 13News Now on Scribd
