A Navy member has been charged with possessing a cache of child pornography and is also being investigated in connection with sexually explicit photos of young girls that appear to have been taken either near or at his San Diego home, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
Petty Officer 1st Class John Christian Ward was arrested Nov. 16 after agents served a search warrant at his Birdland home.
He has pleaded not guilty. He remains detained until a hearing next week when the potential for bail will be discussed.
The investigation began this year after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received tips from Google that a user had uploaded 49 images of possible child porn to a Google+ account, according to the complaint.