A Fort Campbell, Ky., soldier was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for sexually abusing children and asking a female soldier to take sexually explicit images of other soldiers without their consent, Army prosecutors said. (Samuel Shore/U.S. Army)
A Fort Campbell, Ky., soldier was sentenced to 7½ years in prison for sexually abusing children and asking a female soldier to take sexually explicit images of other soldiers without their consent, prosecutors said.
Pfc. Corey Wilkinson, 34, pleaded guilty Oct. 1 to two counts of soliciting another soldier to take sexually explicit images of children and other soldiers, one count of viewing child pornography, and two counts of sexual abuse of a child by indecent communication, according to prosecutors.
Military judge Col. John Maloney also sentenced Wilkinson to a total forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank to E-1 and a dishonorable discharge, according to the Office of Special Trial Counsel, which prosecuted the case. Upon his release from prison, Wilkinson is required to register as a sex offender.
“The sentence reflects not only the seriousness of the accused’s conduct but also the consequences of his actions including the suffering experienced by the victims, and the grief and pain that the victims and their families continue to suffer,” said Maj. J.R. Lystash, a prosecutor with the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. “It is my hope that the justice meted out will provide some comfort to those who the accused victimized.”
Wilkinson enlisted in 2021 as a cannon crewmember and served on a rotational nine-month deployment to Romania in 2022-2023, according to his official service record.
He was first charged with sexual abuse of children in January but was not placed in pretrial confinement. Two months later, the soldier was able to send a sexual photo and messages to another child while in Clarksville, Tenn., which is located just outside Fort Campbell, according to his charge sheet.
He was placed in confinement on April 26 and prosecutors added additional charges in May.
As part of his guilty plea, Wilkinson admitted he asked Pfc. Whitney Shepherd in Grafenwoehr, Germany, to produce child sexual abuse material and photograph the private areas of other soldiers without their consent in January and February 2023.
The charge sheet does not describe how and when the photos were taken of other soldiers — only that the soldiers should have had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Shepherd, 34, was arraigned May 29 and pleaded not guilty, according to the Army’s court docket. At the time, she and Wilkinson were assigned to the same battery within the 1st Battalion of the 320th Field Artillery Regiment.
She faces three counts of conspiracy, one count of child sexual abuse, seven counts of other forms of sexual abuse and six counts related to child sexual abuse materials, according to a charge sheet. All the incidents occurred in Grafenwoehr, Germany, in late 2022 and early 2023.
Her trial with an enlisted jury is scheduled to begin Nov. 12 at Fort Campbell, according to the court docket.
