A U.S. Naval Academy midshipman Tuesday pleaded guilty to and was sentenced to five years in a Navy brig in Norfolk for possessing over 1,000 images and videos of child pornography on computer equipment he owned and giving a false statement to Navy officials.

Michael Pollard, 23, of Apopka, Fla., pleaded guilty as part of a pre-trial agreement with Navy prosecutors during Tuesday’s court-martial at the Washington Navy Yard.

“I unknowingly exposed my fellow midshipmen to [the pornography] who may not have wanted to see it, and that is not expected of a leader,” Pollard said during the hearing.

Pollard, who was to graduate last May, said he used file-sharing software to obtain the images between 2003 and 2007 on computer equipment he owned.

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The images were mostly of boys between the ages of 10 and 13, but some were as young as three, engaging in all manner of sexual activity, Pollard said.

Navy investigators were able to confirm that the images contained minors.

He also lied to Navy investigators about having the images on his computer equipment. Pollard said he was “ridiculously scared” during the interrogation and lied to buy more time.

“I was afraid. I hadn’t told anyone, not even my parents,” Pollard said.

Fred Berlin, director of the National Institute for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Trauma and a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said Pollard suffers from a psychiatric disorder that causes uncontrollable cravings to watch boys have sex. He said no evidence existed that Pollard had solicited or engaged in sexual activity with minors.

Berlin said Pollard has received some treatment, and will need to continue to handle his disorder.

jflanagan@baltimoreexaminer.com