Army Pvt. Parker White at San Bernardino’s Fort Irwin National Training Center was charged March 10 with one felony count of possession of child pornography after police claim he carried on a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old Floridian girl.
White’s attorney, Public Defender Howard Shneider, declined our request for comment.
The Feb. 21 affidavit claims White, who is 21 years old, met the girl on Instagram and sent her sexually explicit photos over Snapchat.
The girl told a Florida sheriff’s deputy that White knew she was underage, and that he originally pretended to be 15 years old. When the deputy communicated with White using the girl’s phone, he sent sexually explicit photos and videos while wearing the United States Army uniform, according to the affidavit.
Special Agents Michael Charlton and Caitlin McCay of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case after the deputy contacted the department Jan. 27, 2022.
During a Mirandized interview, White admitted to the relationship, to knowing the girl’s age and to being in similar relationships with other minors, Charlton wrote. White admitted to having sexually explicit videos of the girl.
Charlton identified five other minors that White had engaged with. McCay discovered 27 additional sexually explicit photos of other people who were likely to be minors on White’s phone.
During a later interview, White admitted to continuing the relationships with the minors, and admitted to re-accessing the child pornography by buying a new phone and syncing it to his iCloud, Charlton wrote.
“You realize that I can get into it from any (f—ing) computer on base. It’s not that (f—ing) hard,” White told McCay.
McCay then seized White’s second phone.
White was arrested Feb. 24. Bail was set at $25,000. He remains at Santa Ana City Jail.
Public Defender Howard Shneider represents White.
Central District of California Magistrate Judge Margo Rocconi presides.
Case No. 5:23-cr-00040
Read the affidavit here.
Read the indictment here.
