DELAWARE
A former U.S. Navy Lt. commander and ordained Catholic priest admitted that he uploaded images of child pornography to several social networking sites, according to authorities
While executing a search warrant for the home of John Thomas Matthew Lee, 50, of Millsboro, Delaware, officials said they found tens of thousands of child-pornography images on several of Lee’s electronic devices, including his phone.
In federal court, Lee plead guilty today to one count of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography, officials said.
U.S. District Court Judge Leonard P. Stark scheduled sentencing for March 2.
Lee is a registered sex offender following his 2007 conviction in a general court martial of sexually assaulting another Naval officer. Lee has been in custody since his arrest on Nov. 3, 2014, according to officials.
Through online messenger applications and text messages, authorities said Lee also used his phone to induce several juveniles to send him pornographic images of themselves. Lee uploaded at least one of these images to a publicly accessible social media site. He also traded other images of child pornography online with other adults, authorities said.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, officials said.