Sounds like a questionable confession to me.

The “niece” photo was not what the case was about. The Soldier’s roommate (who was allowed access to his computer pursuant to an informal agreement between the two) came across images of CP, informed the chain of command, and swore out an affidavit detailing what he’d seen. CID seized the computer. SM was brought in, waived his rights, and confessed. Subsequent forensic analysis revealed several dozen images and videos of CP. The OTH (which I agree is rare in these cases) was likely approved for 2 reasons: (1) the SM had already been extended in Afghanistan for several months beyond his NG unit’s redeployment while OSJA waited for the forensic results to come in, a fact which would likely affect the sentence; and (2) the forensic analysis could not conclusively establish that the images / videos were ever viewed by the SM. So there were potential proof issues. While the standard for corroboration is indeed “slight,” the Gov’t opted not to run the risk of an acquittal, and took the bird in hand.

When you surf for regular porn, you can in fact come out of it with kiddie porn “stuck in your bag.” I think it’s a much fairer conceit to say if you possess drugs, it was probably knowing versus saying if you possess child porn, it was probably knowing minus any other evidence of an interest in child porn.