NORFOLK, Va. – A former U.S. Navy SEAL was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in prison for producing images of child sexual abuse.
In September 2017, Gregory Kyle Seerden, 32, pleaded guilty to filming himself molesting a sleeping child. As a part of his sentence Thursday, Seerden will also serve 25 years of supervised release, and pay a $10,000 fine.
The investigation into Seerden started after a woman reported that the Navy SEAL sexually assaulted her inside the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach.
Gregory Kyle Seerden
During the investigation into the alleged sexual assault, investigators searched Seerden’s iPhone and found 78 images and four videos of child pornography, according to the court documents.
“Agents later learned that Seerden took the videos with his iPhone, and that the minor victim was a five-year-old child known to Seerden. The videos graphically depict Seerden sexually abusing the child while the child sleeps,” according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
In a separate incident, Seerden is also charged with a similar crime in San Diego involving another minor known to him. In this incident, he is accused of recording of sexual abuse involving the child on an iPhone.
That case is a reopening of a 2014 NCIS investigation that did not result in prosecution at the time.
“Instead of being a protector, Seerden was a predator who attacked a sleeping five-year-old child,” said Cliff Everton, Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS Norfolk Field Office. “He is the antithesis of every value the military services hold dear.”
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Layne and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth M. Yusi prosecuted the case.
