Airman gets dishonorable discharge,
jail sentence in child pornography case
Stars and Stripes
RAF MILDENHALL, England — An airman at RAF Mildenhall was sentenced to 28 months
in confinement and dishonorably discharged from the Air Force after pleading guilty to
possessing and distributing child pornography.
Airman 1st Class David Von Bergen of the 100th Communications Squadron also was reduced
in rank to airman basic at a court-martial last week, according to information from the
100th Air Refueling Wing public affairs office.
Von Bergen was an administration journeyman who worked in the 100th Communications
Squadron orderly room. Between December 1999 and July 2000, Von Bergen set up a computer
network with other airmen assigned to the communication squadron dormitory.
Although the network originally was intended for playing real-time computer games, Von
Bergen began using the system to download and distribute pornography, including child
pornography.
"The case was ultimately blown wide open by a concerned dorm resident who saw
these images through the computer network," said Capt. Jeff Palomino, one of the
prosecutors.
The airman’s computer was seized and an analysis found "volumes upon
volumes" of child pornography, Palomino said.
Von Bergen is currently confined to the RAF Lakenheath correctional facility and will
be transferred to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C., to serve out the
remainder of his sentence.
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