Name: Andrew P. Ober
Case: United States v. Ober No. 07-0722
Date Of Appeal: March 17, 2008
Plea: Not Guilty
Charges: possessing child pornography
Military Branch: U.S. Army
Listed In National Sex Offenders Registry? NO
CID arranged for an analysis of the hard drive by a forensic expert. The forensic analysis identified 592 files
containing possible child pornography on the hard drive, including 460 files located in a KaZaA folder. At the time of the forensic analysis, the preferences for the KaZaA program on Appellant’s computer were set to: (1) permit the user to obtain files from other KaZaA users and download up to ten files at a
time; and (2) preclude other KaZaA users from obtaining files from Appellant’s computer.
In a second interview with CID, Appellant stated that he had downloaded and saved approximately forty files containing child pornography on his computer. He acknowledged that he had been viewing child pornography on his computer “[o]nce every two weeks” for about eight months, and that he knew that it was illegal to view and download child pornography.
When asked whether he knew that the files contained pictures of children before he opened the files and viewed them, he said: “Some of the pictures did not have accurate descriptions of what was in the file. Others had a description. I knew that some of the files would contain underage people in the pictures before I opened them.”
In response to the question of whether he saved some of the pictures, he stated: “You can’t open the pictures until you download them. After I downloaded the pictures and viewed them I never deleted them.” When asked whether he had passed on the child pornography to anyone else through the computer, he responded: “No.” Appellant explained that in his previous statement to CID agents, he had denied using his computer to view child pornography because he was afraid of the consequences. In addition, Appellant stated that he had acted out of a lack of self-control and he knew that what he did was wrong.
Following the investigation, the Government charged Appellant with three offenses: (1) transporting child
pornography in violation of Article 134, UCMJ; (2) possessing child pornography in violation of Article 134, UCMJ; and (3) making a false official statement about the use of his computer to access child pornography in violation of Article 107, UCMJ. The present appeal focuses primarily on the first offense, in which Appellant was convicted of a charge that he “did . . . knowingly and wrongfully cause to be transported in interstate commerce child pornography by uploading pictures of child pornography to a shared internet file named ‘KAZAA’, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(1).”
Chief Judge EFFRON delivered the opinion of the Court. A general court-martial composed of officer and enlisted members convicted Appellant, contrary to his pleas, of making a false official statement, knowingly and wrongfully transporting child pornography in interstate commerce, and knowingly and wrongfully possessing child pornography, in violation of Articles 107 and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ),
10 U.S.C. §§ 907, 934 (2000).
The sentence adjudged by the court-martial included confinement for three years, a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. The convening authority approved confinement for thirty months and approved the balance of the sentence. The United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.
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Of
United States Military
Sexual Offender
Conviction Records
Not Associated With The U.S. Military Or Government
An Unofficial Site
Of United States Military
Sexual Offender
Conviction Records
Not Associated With The U.S. Military Or Government
Andrew P. Ober
Specialist U.S. Army
Convicted Sex Offender
Possession Of Child Pornography
