A senior airman stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) is facing charges of allegedly distributing and possessing child pornography, according to 2nd Lt. William Collette, public affairs officer with the 30th Space Wing at VAFB.
The charges against 27-year-old Nicholas Linton were referred on June 20, Collette told the Sun. Specifically, Linton is being charged with Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a parallel code of laws that members of the U.S. Armed Forces must abide by in addition to the laws followed by U.S. citizens.
Collette couldn’t provide details about what led to the charges, but he added that the UCMJ doesn’t require an arrest before they are referred.
Article 134 is generally called the “catch-all” article because it umbrellas offenses not specifically covered by other parts of the UCMJ.
Linton is assigned to the 614th Air and Space Communications Squadron at VAFB and has no prior criminal or disciplinary record, Collette said.
A court-martial scheduled for Linton starts on Oct. 4 and is expected to last five days.
“These charges are merely accusations and Senior Airman Linton is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty,” Collette said.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.
