An airman at Keesler Air Force Base has pleaded guilty in military court to sex crimes against a child.

Staff Sgt. James McGriff, 31, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years of confinement, said Capt. David Murphy, chief of public affairs for the 81st Training Wing at Keesler.

McGriff also was demoted to E-1, airman basic, and received a dishonorable discharge, Murphy said.

The child was the niece of the woman McGriff was dating at the time and the crimes occurred in another state, Murphy said.

Military police arrested McGriff on Aug. 22 on Articles 120b, 124 and 134 under the Uniform Military Code of Justice. He was held for four days at the Harrison County jail.

The charges shown on the jail docket are lewd act on a child under 16, committing sodomy on a child under 12 and enticing a child under 18 to take part in sexually explicit conduct.

Murphy said McGriff pleaded guilty on Wednesday.

Military police took McGriff back to the Harrison County jail, where he will be held until he is placed in a military prison.

Details of the case were not immediately available.

Any details to be released would be available later on the Judge Advocate General’s Corps online docket, Murphy said.

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