Does Soldier Have Child Porn Or 'Innocent Pictures' of Niece?

Jan. 19, 2010— -- The U.S. military and the family of Spec. Billy Miller agree that there are pictures of children on the National Guardsman's laptop.

Miller's family contends the images are "innocent pictures" of his 4-year-old niece, sent to the Illinois soldier serving in Afghanistan from his mother to cheer him up. The military says there are additional child photos, pornographic images worthy of an investigation and potential court martial.

Miller has been charged with possession of pornography and child pornography, and months after his Illinois National Guard battalion returned home, he remains in Afghanistan awaiting his fate.

The military says he must stay there until the investigation concludes, but his family contends the Army is trying to cover up its own blunders by claiming the 22-year-old soldier was in possession of child porn.

In July Miller's mother Terri Miller sent the soldier pictures of his niece, a 4-year-old cancer survivor, posing in a bathing suit in a swimming pool, on a bed and on the hood of a pickup truck.

"I took those pictures and I sent them to him. That little girl is his life. She came to nana and pop's house for vacation and her birthday," said Terri Miller. "He's homesick and I sent them. They were just innocent pictures."

She's convinced it is her fault that her son continues to remain in Afghanistan five months after she sent the pictures.

"It just eats me up that I'm to blame," she said.

But the Army says there is more to it than just the pictures of Miller's niece. Army investigators say they found adult pornography and other child images, which they believe qualify as pornographic, according to an Army spokesman stationed in Afghanistan.

"We can confirm that the photos of his niece in a bathing suit are not the photos related to the article 134 violation for child pornography nor are they related to the article 92 violation," Master Sgt. Thomas Clementson told ABC News.com via e-mail.

Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits the possession of child pornography. Article 92 prohibits the possession of adult pornography.

"Now that he has been charged, his case is being investigated. It will then go to an Article 32, which is similar to a civilian grand jury. An officer has been appointed to review the evidence and determine if there are grounds for a trial by court martial, or if the case should be tried at all," said Clementson in a phone call from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.

A charge of possession of child pornography would have to meet the federal definition of "any visual depiction of a minor, or what appears to be a minor, engaging in sexually explicit conduct," according to the Army.

The military said Miller had been assigned an attorney in Afghanistan. His parents confirmed that he had once briefly met with counsel.