An American soldier serving in Germany was sentenced Tuesday to six months’ confinement and a dishonorable discharge for viewing child sexual abuse images including one of an infant. (Aspen Reid/U.S. Air Force)

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — An American soldier serving in Germany was sentenced Tuesday to six months’ confinement and a dishonorable discharge for viewing child sexual abuse images including one of an infant.

Warrant Officer 1 Zachary B. Lawson pleaded guilty in a general court-martial at Kleber Kaserne to one count under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Known as the general article, it covers conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline or conduct that brings discredit upon the armed forces.

Prosecutors said Lawson had viewed four sexually explicit images on his phone that showed six children. He initially faced the possibility of up to a 10-year prison sentence.

Warrant Officer 1 Zachary B. Lawson, pictured on the right as a staff sergeant in July 2022, pleaded guilty Jan. 13, 2026, to viewing child sexual abuse images and was sentenced at a general court-martial in Kaiserslautern, Germany, to six months’ confinement and a dishonorable discharge. (Candy Knight/U.S. Army)

The crimes occurred between 2023 and 2025 while he was assigned to the 102nd Strategic Signal Battalion in Wiesbaden.

Lawson said people he communicated with in various online forums sent him child sexual abuse material involving children. “Each image the defendant consumed was an echo of a real child suffering, a commercial transaction in a marketplace of abuse,” prosecutor Capt. Stella McBride said. “They are grotesque violations of the innocence of children who are among the most vulnerable in our society.”

Under the terms of a plea agreement, Lawson’s sentence was capped at between three and six months. Lt. Col. Jordan Stapley, the military judge, imposed the maximum.

Two related charges were dismissed without prejudice as part of the agreement. As a warrant officer, Lawson could not be reduced in rank.

Lawson previously worked on the communications team for the commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa as part of the 102nd Strategic Signal Battalion.

The unit provides and protects strategic networking and communications services for U.S. Army Europe and Africa and allied forces.

The position typically is filled by “our best soldiers by character and technical expertise,” battalion commander Lt. Col. Matthew Britnell said in court.

“I believe that he was one person at work, and then he had an addiction that people at work didn’t see,” Britnell said.