HONOLULU — A former U.S. soldier who was stationed in Hawaii has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for soliciting sexually explicit photographs from a British girl and using them to blackmail her, federal prosecutors said.
Christopher Ernest Fox was sentenced Monday in federal court in Honolulu after pleading guilty in April to producing child pornography.
The 21-year-old former military police officer began corresponding online with the girl in August 2016, knowing she was a minor, prosecutors said.
He persuaded the girl, who was 12 at the time, to send him explicit photographs of herself. He requested more photos and threatened to distribute the pictures he had if she did not comply.
When the girl refused to send more pictures, he posted the nude photos of her under a fake social media account. The girl and her parents reported him to police in England after the photos began circulating at her school.
Fox was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and to submit to 10 years of restrictive court supervision after his prison term. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Fox was assigned to the 728th Military Police Battalion and stationed at the Schofield Barracks on Oahu. He was discharged from the Army in December.
