A Naval Academy midshipman was sentenced to 20 months in Naval prison and dismissed from the Naval Academy after being found guilty of child pornography possession.
Matthew A. Mosley was convicted on possession of child pornography, obstructing justice and desertion, according to the certified record of trial. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison, with 280 days already served, in November 2020.
He was sentenced to one-month confinement for the desertion charge, 18 months for the obstruction of justice charge and 20 months for the possession of child pornography. All sentences run concurrently, meaning he will serve no longer than 20 months.
Mosley is currently serving his time at the Naval Consolidated Brig Chesapeake, according to a post-trial action document signed by Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck on March 9, 2021.
According to charging documents from February 2020, Mosley possessed child pornography between June 2018 and November 2019. He was charged with obstruction of justice after deleting evidence from his phone and desertion after he left the Naval Academy on Jan. 31, 2020. He was apprehended on Feb. 4, 2020.
He will also have to register on the sex offender registry and is prohibited from possessing firearms, according to a statement of trial results.
The case file did not include Mosley’s age or his class. However, a list of midshipmen on the Superintendent’s Honor List for spring 2019 had Mosley as a member of the class of 2021. An Instagram post listed him as a member of the 8th Company. He was also on the academy’s Ethics Team, according to a Facebook post from the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership.
An attorney was not listed in the case file for Mosley. The Naval Academy declined to comment.
It’s unclear if Mosley will have to repay the academy for his time there, since he will not graduate.
Nixon Keago, who was a 3rd class midshipman, was dismissed and sentenced to 25 years in a sexual assault case that concluded in August. The members panel, the court-martial equivalent of a jury, also sentenced him to forfeit all pay and allowances as well as dismissing him from military service. The dismissal was the minimum sentence Keago faced. The maximum was 120 years’ confinement.
In February, a 1st class midshipman was recommended for separation after posting tweets over the summer the academy characterized as inappropriate. Midshipman Chase Standage sued the Naval Academy superintendent and Navy secretary over the recommendation. The lawsuit was settled, but details on the settlement, including if he was separated and if he would have to reimburse the academy, were not made public.
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