NORFOLK, Va. — A retired Navy chief petty officer from Water View was sentenced to serve 35 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
43-year-old Cory Richard Hambley pled guilty to conspiracy to produce visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct and use of an interstate commerce facility to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to a plea agreement obtained by News 3.
Hambley was a program analyst for the Missile Defense Agency, having gained "Top Secret" security clearance as a result, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
In Nov. 2022, Hambley was repeatedly contacting his former girlfriend, 43-year-old Grace Elizabeth Paradis of Virginia Beach. He was asking for her to give him CSAM of her abusing a 5-year-old and 9-year-old child, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Hambley "leveraged" both Paradis' struggle to pay her rent and her interest in having a relationship.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says Hambley gave Paradis a camera with the purpose of hiding and recording images of children, including CSAM involving Paradis. In March 2023, Hambley sent $4,000 to his former girlfriend "with the expectation that she would produce and provide CSAM." She did record the child abuse and gave it to Hambley through a Google Drive folder.
Throughout this time, Hambley was married to someone prosecutors referred to as "C.H.," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia .
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says that C.H. introduced Hambley to a child, who would later live with Hambley and C.H. The child's relationship with both adults was not explained in the press release sent by prosecutors. Investigators would find CSAM files involving this child that was created without their knowledge.
Investigators also found images of two adult victims that were created without their knowledge; both had served with Hambley in the U.S. Navy, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Over 1,155 images and 142 videos of CSAM were found on Hambley's devices. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says he collected and shared CSAM over the internet.
On Oct. 23, 2025, Paradis pled guilty to conspiring to produce child sexual abuse material. She is set to be sentenced on May 21, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Paradis faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says Homeland Security Investigations Norfolk office along with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Virginia Beach Police Department were involved in this investigation
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