A U.S. soldier on Okinawa was sentenced to 20 months in prison for possessing over 1,100 child sexual abuse images. (Joshua Magbanua/U.S. Air Force)
An Okinawa-based U.S. soldier has been sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing more than 1,100 child sexual abuse images.
Pfc. Kolby Mayer served as a Patriot launching station enhanced operator with 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment on Kadena Air Base.
At the May 29 court-martial, a military judge at Camp Zama, near Tokyo, also ordered Mayer reduced in rank to private and separated on a bad conduct discharge, according to a news release from the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
“This is a just outcome that we believe provided appropriate punishment, brought justice to the victims, and sent a strong message to others that this sort of misconduct will not be tolerated,” Capt. Joe Strzempko, a prosecutor with the 10th Support Group on Okinawa, said in the release.
On May 28, 2025, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office in Menomonie, Wis., received a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that Mayer uploaded images of child sexual abuse on the Snapchat phone application, according to the release.
The office transferred the case to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division after learning he was stationed on Okinawa.
The case was handled by the Army CID Far East Field Office at Torii Station, Okinawa. Agents seized Mayer’s laptop and phone and found about 1,175 images, the release said.
Some of the images featured “Pedo Bear” cartoon icons used to covertly mark pedophilic material, the Army said.
Mayer is confined at Military Corrections Facility Yokosuka awaiting transfer to a military prison in the United States, according to the release. He will be required to register as a sex offender.
The Torii Station CID field office referred questions by phone Tuesday to Army CID headquarters, which did not immediately respond after business hours in Virginia.
“Behind every file of child sexual abuse material is a real child who was exploited and harmed,” Capt. Diamond Akers, prosecutor with the Seventh Circuit Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, said in the release.
“These offenses are uniquely devastating because the abuse is memorialized and can be repeatedly viewed and shared,” she said. “The impact on survivors extends far beyond the initial abuse, making accountability, prevention, and prosecution of these crimes critical to protecting vulnerable children and our communities.”
