San Diego-based U.S. Navy SEAL Petty Officer 1st Class Gregory Seerden is in custody, accused of possessing and distributing child pornography. NBC 7’s Dave Summers reports.
NBC 7 has learned an active-duty U.S. Navy SEAL assigned to SEAL Team One in Coronado, California has been accused of possessing dozens of images of child porn on his phone.
Gregory Kyle Seerden, 31, of San Diego faces several felony counts related to possession of child porn.
The case started on January 17 when a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted while intoxicated. The woman reported the allegations to a gate sentry.
A woman told the gate sentry at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story (JEBLCFS) that she had just spent the night with Seerden.
At the time, Seerden was on temporary duty in Virginia but was stationed with the U.S. Navy out of San Diego, California.
As part of the investigation into the alleged sexual assault, NCIS investigators seized Seerden’s iPhone 7 and had received permission from Seerden's commanding officer to search the phone for text messages, photos, videos, phone logs, and contacts.
When an NCIS Digital Forensic Examiner reviewed the contents of the phone in February, he reported seeing “images of prepubescent children that were naked and engaged in sexual acts, specifically oral sex."
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On March 20, a judge approved the search of Seerden’s iPhone 7 for evidence related to child pornography.
Officials allege 78 images were found on the phone that include some depicting bondage of children, according to legal documents.
Video that appeared to be created by the user of the phone, created Jan. 1-2, show a man masturbating next to a sleeping girl who appeared to be 5 or 6 years old, according to the legal document. The face of the male was not visible in the video, investigators said.
At one point, the unidentified man in the video puts his erect penis on the lips of the victim, the documents state.
Investigators say the sleeping child is seen in other photos where the Navy SEAL was reading a book to several children.
Investigators allege the photo of Seerden reading the book shows him dressed in similar clothing as the man seen masturbating in previous videos.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
