U.S. Soldier Who Crossed into North Korea is Charged With Desertion

Travis King, the U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea from South Korea earlier this year, has been charged by the Army with several crimes, including desertion, assaulting other soldiers and officers, and soliciting and possessing child pornography, according to documents obtained by CBS News.

King faces eight total charges, which also include making false statements and disobeying superior officers. A conviction on a peacetime desertion charge can come with a three-year prison sentence, according to The Associated Press.

“I love my son unconditionally and am extremely concerned about his mental health. As his mother, I ask that my son be afforded the presumption of innocence,” King’s mother, Claudine Gates, said in a statement to CBS News. “The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before deploying did not drink. A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed.”

Read the source article at CBS News