WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — A prosecutor in New York says a West Point cadet collected and traded photos and videos of boys being forced into sexual acts.
In Tuesday’s opening statements at Ricky Patrick Hester’s trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Schorr warned jurors they would have to look at disturbing, graphic evidence.
Hester, of Granger, Indiana, has pleaded not guilty to charges of possessing and distributing child pornography.
Prosecutors say emails expressing interest in child pornography were traced to Hester from Idaho. Schorr says Hester “confessed in full” the day he was arrested at his barracks. But his lawyer, Patrick Mullin, suggested that the government’s questioning and its search of his room were improper.
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Hester has been on administrative leave since his arrest. West Point says the allegations are inconsistent with Army values.