The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is seen on June 27, 2023, from outside the gated campus in Bethesda, Md. According to reports on Tuesday, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is looking for potential victims to come forward, after federal authorities arrested a Navy psychologist who has worked at multiple installations including the Walter Reed center. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
(Tribune News Service) — Federal authorities have arrested a Navy psychologist, who previously worked at multiple military installations including a Navy health clinic in Groton, Conn., and at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on child exploitation charges.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia has now joined with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in a call for potential victims to come forward.
Navy Lieutenant Commander Michael Andrew Widroff, 33, is charged with trying to produce child pornography and attempting to coerce a minor to engage in sexual activity in Snapchat messages, an affidavit for Widroff's arrest shows. Police said he sent nude photos and videos to an undercover NCIS agent.
NCIS was conducting an undercover online child exploitation operation in May when authorities said an undercover agent noticed a post on the Whisper social media network of a man wearing a Naval officer's uniform with text reading something to the effect of "I fantasize about fraternization and other UMCJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) violations," court records show.
The undercover agent, posing as a 14-year-old girl, started a conversation with Widroff , which continued on Snapchat and escalated to the point where Widroff sent nude photos and obscene videos, asked to meet the undercover agent to have sex. One of the photos Widroff sent, authorities said, was of himself from the waist down in a Navy uniform with his genitalia visible.
Widroff, court records show, used the username "mikenavyguy78," and display name "M Sailorguy," on Snapchat.
Widroff was living in Norfolk, Va., with his wife at the time and previously assigned as a psychologist for the USS Gerald R. Ford. Widoff, according to the Navy, was assigned as a psychologist to the Naval Health Branch Clinic in Groton from December 2017 through June 2021. He previously worked at the City University in New York, Hofstra University in Long Island, N.Y., the Officer Training Command in Newport, R.I., and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Karoline Foote, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia, said anyone who has information related to the case is encouraged to contact NCIS via the NCIS Tips app or at www.ncis.navy.mil.
Widroff is charged with attempted production of child pornography, two counts of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and three counts of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
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