USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul. | USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul LCS 21
Published on May 31, 2024 at 12:03 pm
A former Navy commander based at Mayport Naval Station has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material and possessing classified defense information at home.
Gregory Edward McLean, executive officer of the USS Minneapolis St. Paul, a littoral combat ship, received 13 years for the sex abuse material and 10 years for the classified documents. He will serve the sentences concurrently.
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“This sentencing serves as an example that such behavior will not be tolerated within the Navy ranks,” said Barbara Jackson, special agent in charge of the Southeast Field Office of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The investigation began after police in Rhode Island got a tip that a user on a messaging app had shared videos depicting sexual abuse of children, court documents state. The investigation identified the user as McLean.
While investigating the tip, investigators found a flash drive on McLean’s kitchen counter with 150 documents containing national defense information classified at the secret level and 50 more classified at the confidential level, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
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McLean held a top-secret security clearance. As a naval officer, he was aware that his home was not an authorized location to store classified national defense information, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“In particular, court documents identify two documents McLean unlawfully retained which contained national defense information related to foreign governments and their combat aircraft and naval capabilities,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. “Disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to cause damage and, in some instances, serious damage to the national security of the United States.”
McLean pleaded guilty Dec. 6, 2023.
