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Roommate: Mid had child porn

The Navy’s lead witness in its case against a Naval Academy student accused of storing more than 1,000 pornographic images of children on two computers testified Monday that he discovered the files when he logged onto his roommate’s computer to watch a television show.

Midshipman 1st Class Mikoto Yoshida was the first of several witnesses at the Article 32 hearing of Midshipman 1st Class Michael Pollard, who is charged with one count of possessing child pornography, four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, and four lesser, related counts under the UCMJ’s general article.

Yoshida said he used Pollard’s computer during a break between classes in February 2007 because his own computer was slow. He said he became suspicious after seeing a video file titled “Boy Party”; when he clicked on it, he saw “two naked adolescent boys moving toward each other.” Elsewhere on the computer, he said, found other child pornography and fictional accounts of sexual encounters between three characters, all young boys and teens, on the television show “Malcolm in the Middle.”

Yoshida, who shared a six-person suite in the academy dormitory with Pollard, said he then showed the pornographic images to two other roommates. After the group conferred about what they should do, Yoshida went to his class officer to report what he had found, and Pollard’s laptop was seized by Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents later that day.

An agent from a private forensics laboratory in Maryland testified that he found evidence of several hundred pornographic images of “prepubescent boys” on the computer, and on another computer that agents later took from his mother’s Apopka, Fla., home.

Yoshida said he had no suspicions that Pollard had saved any type of pornography on his computer before his discovery and added that his roommates often used each other’s computers to play practical jokes, watch movies and print papers.

The Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a grand jury proceeding, concluded late Monday afternoon, after investigating officer Cmdr. Michael Holifield rejected a request by civilian defense lawyer Larry Burch to hold the hearing open for 10 days so that former Naval Academy superintendent and retired Vice Adm. Rodney Rempt could be located.

Burch said he wanted to question Rempt, who was superintendent when the investigation was launched, about oral authorization Rempt gave a staff officer to have Pollard’s computer seized — normally such authorizations are given in writing, a Naval Academy staff officer testified.

Holifield will recommend to the case’s convening authority, Naval Academy superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, whether Pollard should be court-martialed for any or all of the charges, although Fowler will not be bound by Holifield’s recommendation.

Burch repeatedly questioned how prosecutors could tie the pornography found on Pollard’s computer directly to Pollard. He said some of the charges were excessive, noting that Pollard was charged with transferring pornography after leaving a computer at his mother’s house in Florida.

“The idea that he was attempting to transfer child pornography to his mother defies common sense,” he said.

Pollard did not testify at the hearing at the Washington Navy Yard courtroom, but conferred with Burch several times during the hearing, apparently offering information about several software file-sharing programs he is alleged to have used.

Naval Academy officials have declined to describe Pollard’s status at the academy, but a Naval Academy staff officer testified that he has been removed from his class; midshipmen normally remain attached to a class from plebe summers until graduation.

Pollard is charged with:

* Attempt to distribute child pornography.

* Conduct unbecoming an officer by impeding an investigation, by deleting child pornography.

* Conduct unbecoming an officer by impeding an investigation, by installing a new operating system on his computer to erase information.

* Conduct unbecoming an officer by making a false official statement to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

* Conduct unbecoming an officer by possessing pornography.

* Four counts of violating Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, known as the general article, by knowingly possessing and receiving more than 1,000 pornographic images and video files on two laptops and one external hard drive.

Holifield asked witnesses about their availability during the next three months, saying a court martial could be scheduled in that timeframe if Fowler decides to go forward with the case.

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