NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- A former U.S. Navy SEAL was sentenced to 27 years in prison for producing images of child sexual abuse, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
32-year-old Kyle Seerden was arrested in San Diego last April. An initial investigation involving Seerden began when a woman accused him of sexual assault a few months earlier. 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.
“Gregory Seerden victimized a child and used mobile technology to memorialize sexually explicit videos,” said Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “As this prosecution makes clear, the United States will seek to hold accountable anyone who sexually exploits our most vulnerable citizens.”
On Thursday, Seerden was sentenced to 27 years in prison, 25 years of supervised release, and fined $10,000 for producing images of child sexual abuse.