PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A Naval Medical Center Portsmouth sailor is facing multiple charges regarding classified information violations, child pornography, and general regulation violations.
While stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska in 2019, a U.S. Navy charge sheet says that Chief Petty Officer Charles T. Briggs used a government computer to get secret information that could possibly be used to “injure the United States or benefit a foreign national.”
Additionally, the two charges related to child pornography occurred while he was stationed Offut Air Force Base Nebraska in 2018.
The charge sheet also states that Briggs had access to national defense information on multiple occasions from October 2018 to January 2019. He allegedly gave classified information to a person who the redacted document identifies as a “Russian national,” and was not authorized to have the information.
According to officials, Briggs never reported connections to a Russian national and Italian national, and he was deceptive on a security clearance pre-screening questionnaire that asked whether he maintained a “close and continuing relationship” with anyone who was not a U.S. citizen.
The list of charges according to the sheet include:
- Unauthorized distribution of classified information obtained from a government computer
- Obstructing justice
- Communicating defense information
- Possessing child pornography
- Attempting to view child pornography
- Violating a general regulation – two counts
- Making false official statements – three counts