DOJ: Navy officer charged after attempting to get explicit photos, engage in sexual activity with minor

NORFOLK, Va. - Authorities are searching for an officer and psychologist with the U.S. Navy who has been charged with exploitation of a child. 

The Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) issued a call Friday for victims of a man charged with child exploitation to come forward.

A criminal complaint was filed against Lieutenant Commander Michael Andrew Widroff, a Naval Officer previously assigned as the psychologist for the USS Gerald R. Ford in Norfolk on June 5, 2023. According to the complaint, Widroff attempted was communicating with the minor on Snapchat under  the username "mikenavyguy78" and display name "M Sailorguy." 

Widroff is facing multiple charges including attempting to produce child pornography, attempting to coerce or entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to transfer obscene matter to a minor.  

FILE-Sailors salute at their graduation ceremony at the US Naval Training Center in Orlando, Florida. (Getty Images)

Prior to serving on the USS Gerald R. Ford, Widroff worked or studied at the following institutions:
• Women’s League Home for Mentally Disabled Boys in Brooklyn, New York, from 2009 to 2016;
• City University of New York from approximately 2008 through 2011;
• Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, from approximately 2011 through 2017;
• Officer Training Command in Newport, Rhode Island, from August 2016 through September 2016;
• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, from September 2016 through December 2017; and
• Naval Branch Health Clinic in Groton, Connecticut, from December 2017 through June 2021.

If convicted, Widroff faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison. 

Anyone who believes they have information relating to this case or are a victim of this individual is encouraged to contact NCIS via the NCIS Tips app or at www.ncis.navy.mil.