The US Army has charged Private Travis King with crimes ranging from desertion for running into North Korea in July to assault against fellow soldiers and solicitation of child pornography, according to documents obtained by Reuters.
The Army's case against King, which has not been previously reported, includes eight distinct charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, setting up a substantial legal battle for the 23-year-old soldier after his release from North Korean custody in September.In a statement provided by a family spokesperson, King's mother, Claudine Gates, expressed her unconditional love and asked that her son "be afforded the presumption of innocence".
His release by North Korea in September followed weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations that led the Swedish government to retrieve King in North Korea and bring him across the border into China for a handoff to the US ambassador. But the Army's charge sheet accuses him of broad misconduct before that incident, including an attempted escape from US military custody on October 2022.
Bergdahl was an Army sergeant who was held for five years by the Taliban after walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.