Former Military Contractor from Andrews, Texas Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography While in Afghanistan
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 20, 2009 |
United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that this morning in federal court in Midland, Ronald Lee Thames, 32, of Andrews, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in July 2008 while he was working as a military contractor at Camp Phoenix in Afghanistan.
In his plea before United States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Manske, Thames admitted downloading graphic movies and photographic images of prepubescent children engaging in sexually explicit conduct from the Internet using the LimeWire peer-to-peer file sharing program. At the time, Thames was employed by U.S. Army contractor, AGS/AECOM, which provides maintenance support at Camp Phoenix near Kabul.
Though his crime was committed in Afghanistan, Thames was prosecuted in the Western District of Texas, where he resides, pursuant to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act.
Thames faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in April.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Kerry Ann Fleck is prosecuting the matter for the Government.