Cmdr. Gregory McLean pleaded guilty Dec. 6, 2023, to a single count of distributing videos depicting the sexual assault of children and also pleaded guilty to a count of unlawful retention of classified national defense information. (Bradford County Sheriff’s Office)
A Navy sailor who once was the executive officer of a littoral combat ship pleaded guilty this week to sharing child sexual abuse videos and mishandling classified documents, according to the Justice Department.
Cmdr. Gregory E. McLean, 39, of Jacksonville, Fla., pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of distributing videos depicting child sexual assault and one count of unlawful retention of classified national defense information, the DOJ said in a statement the same day.
McLean faces up to to 20 years in prison for the child exploitation offense and up to 10 years for the classified information conviction, the statement said. A sentencing date has not been set.
McLean held a top secret security clearance and was USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul’s second-in-command from its pre-commissioning until being relieved of his duties on Nov. 15, 2021, according to a Sept. 21, 2022, report from the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union.
After receiving a tip, Rhode Island state police determined that McLean had used a messaging app to distribute videos depicting sexual abuse of young children, the Justice Department said.
A subsequent Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe revealed other instances in which he did the same thing.
That investigation led to a search of McLean’s home in 2021 and seizure of several electronic devices and storage media.
Authorities found files depicting child sexual abuse and a flash drive on the kitchen counter containing 200 classified documents, according to the statement.
Two of those documents involved national defense information related to the combat aircraft and naval capabilities of foreign governments, the DOJ said.
The investigation also showed that McLean was aware of how to properly handle and protect classified documents, and knew that his home was not an authorized location to store national defense information, according to the statement.
