RACINE, Wis. — Travis King, the U.S. Army private from Racine who ran across the border into North Korea, has been charged with desertion and possessing sexual images of a child, and other charges.
Right now, we're told King's being held in some sort of solitary confinement inside a military facility. This comes just weeks after he was being held captive in North Korea as U.S. officials worked to get him back now.
"We have a team of lawyers and we expect to vigorously contest this case," Franklin Rosenblatt said.
Rosenblatt is one of the several defense attorneys representing King.
In a charge sheet obtained by TMJ4 News, it shows King is charged with desertion in relation to his flee into North Korea, two counts of soliciting someone on Snapchat to send child pornography and possessing a video of that, and other charges include attempting to escape U.S. Military custody in October 2022, leaving base after curfew, assaulting other military personnel, and drinking alcohol against military orders.
"This is someone who's just come from captivity. It's a bit surprising that they wanted to bring these charges so quickly," Rosenblatt said.
In the coming weeks, King will have a preliminary hearing to see if there's sufficient evidence to move forward. It's a hearing Rosenblatt said King wants to be public.
"Sometimes the military closes these hearings either because they're things that are embarrassing to the military or to shield the involvement of high-level officials," Rosenblatt explained. "It's important for him [King] to see that the public knows what's going on."
King's family didn't want to speak on camera Friday. His mother sent us the following statement:
"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. 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. The Army promised to investigate what happened at Camp Humphries, and I await
the results. I am grateful for the extraordinary legal team representing my son, and I look forward to my son having his day in court."
King, 23, returned to the United States in September after sprinting across the heavily fortified bordered between the Koreas on July 18. He was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.
King was the first American confirmed to be detained in the isolated nation in nearly five years.
King was brought by a Swedish convoy to the Friendship bridge on the border between North Korea and Dandong, China, according to two US officials. Sweden acted as the interlocutor between the US and North Korea for King's return.
As previously reported, King was declared AWOL from the Army. In many cases, someone who is AWOL for more than a month can automatically be considered a deserter.
Punishment for desertion can vary, and it depends in part on whether the service member voluntarily returned or was apprehended. King’s handover by the North Koreans makes that more complicated.
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