KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – A Soldier who traded child pornography online and made indecent comments regarding the sexual abuse of children pleaded guilty on Oct. 17 and was sentenced to prison by a military judge.
Sgt. Amariah Foster, 28, pleaded guilty to two specifications of viewing and distributing child pornography and two specifications of indecent language communicated to another. The military judge sentenced him to 30 months confinement, reduction in rank to E-1 and a bad conduct discharge consistent with his plea agreement.
Foster traded child pornography and made indecent communications concerning the sexual abuse of children with other users on the mobile applications X and Telegram. This activity occurred from Jan. 2023 through Jan. 2024 while he was living in Virginia Beach, Va., and Sembach, Germany. His illegal activity was discovered by a family member who notified military law enforcement.
Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division investigators initiated an investigation and collected evidence from witnesses, search warrants, and digital forensic analysis. When interviewed by agents, Foster admitted to viewing and distributing child pornography.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of our investigators in pursuing critical leads and sorting through the digital evidence, Sgt. Foster was held accountable for the detestable crime of trading images of child sexual abuse on the internet,” said Maj. Zach Ray, lead prosecutor, Eighth Circuit, Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
“CID works vigorously to combat serious crime and enhance the safety of the Army community,” said Ryan Hall, special agent in charge of the Army CID Europe Field Office. “The sentencing of Amariah Foster demonstrates the commitment of CID and our partners to hold accountable those who engage in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.”
Foster, who joined the Army in 2016, will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements.
The case was investigated by CID’s Kaiserslautern Resident Agency and prosecuted by Ray and Cpt. Anil Kimball, 21st Theater Sustainment Command.
| Date Taken: | 11.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.12.2024 11:48 |
| Story ID: | 485078 |
| Location: | KAISERSLAUTERN, DE |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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