A Fort Campbell, Ky., soldier was sentenced to more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to taking sexually explicit images and videos of children and other soldiers. (Samuel Shore/U.S. Army)
A Fort Campbell, Ky., soldier was sentenced to more than two years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to taking sexually explicit images and videos of children and other soldiers without their consent, according to the Army.
Pfc. Whitney Shepherd, 34, was also sentenced to a total forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank to E-1 and a dishonorable discharge by military judge Lt. Col. Gregory Bockin in the 3rd Judicial Circuit. The sentence was within the terms of a plea agreement, according to the service Office of Special Trial Counsel, which prosecuted the case.
Shepherd, who is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent recording and one for producing child sexual abuse material.
She photographed other female soldiers — ranked specialist and private first class — in January and February 2023 in Grafenwoehr, Germany. At the time the photos were taken, the women should have had a reasonable expectation of privacy, according to the charge sheet.
The photos and videos of children were produced sometime between December 2022 through February 2023, according to the charge sheet.
Shepherd had also faced charges of conspiring with another soldier to commit the crimes. That soldier, Pfc. Corey Wilkinson, pleaded guilty last month and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Instead of conspiracy, he pleaded guilty to solicitation and sexually abusing children.
“The resolution of this case will no doubt bring comfort to these victims and serve as a reminder to those who even consider committing an act of sexual exploitation that the Army and the Office of Special Trial Counsel stand ready to prosecute these heinous crimes to the fullest extent of the law,” said Capt. Matthew Wallace, lead prosecutor for the 3rd Circuit.
Once Shepherd is released from prison, she will be required to register as a sex offender, according to the special trial counsel.
It is rare for female soldiers to face a court-martial. In 2023, there were 11 women tried by court-martial and 520 men, according to the Army Report on Military Justice for Fiscal Year 2023.
At the end of 2023, the Army had just one woman incarcerated, according to its annual confinement report.
