A leading Australian military adviser who worked for the federal government , the RAAF and Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove in East Timor has been arrested in the US on child pornography charges . Dr Adam Cobb was taken into custody on Friday in Portsmouth , New Hampshire , for receipt and distribution of child pornography after allegedly uploading images of child pornography to the social networking site , Tumblr . If convicted he faces 20 years ' jail in the US . Dr Adam Cobb was taken into custody on Friday in Portsmouth , New Hampshire , for receipt and distribution of child pornography after allegedly uploading images of child pornography to the social networking site , Tumblr . The 45-year-old was in the US working as a research professor and director at the prestigious US Naval War College in Rhode Island . Cobb took up the position at the US Naval War College in June last year after holding senior military and government roles in Australia and the US , including a recent strategic policy and planning position at US Special Operations Command in Tampa , Florida . ' I can confirm that he was a civilian employee and director of the Mahan Advanced Research Project at the US Naval War College , ' Captain Christopher Dicomitis , a Rhode Island State Police detective , told AAP on Sunday . Cobb appeared in the US District Court in Providence on Friday and was refused bail . An investigation began in January when The National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children reported an individual in Rhode Island had uploaded child pornography to Tumblr . The internet connection at Cobb 's Portsmouth home was identified as the origin of the images . Cobb was in the US working as a director at the prestigious US Naval War College in Rhode Island after holding senior military and government roles in Australia , including the RAAF . Laptops and mobile phones were seized from his home , while photos and videos of two females were also discovered on a storage device and a computer allegedly belonging to Cobb . Educated at the University of Sydney , Australian National University and University of Cambridge , Cobb built a reputation as a leading military thinker . According to his biography on the US Naval War College website , Cobb worked on the 1999-2000 East Timor crisis with Major General Cosgrove , who at the time was commander of the international peacekeeping mission . 'Overall , my commanders and I found Dr Cobb 's work a valuable contribution to our understanding of important issues before us , ' Maj Gen Cosgrove wrote in a review of Cobb 's work as lead analyst for the Australian Parliament Defence Office . In Australia he was special-director , strategic policy with the RAAF ; senior defence adviser for the Australian parliament ; an Australian parliamentary fellow ; and research fellow at Australian National University 's strategic and defence studies centre . Cobb has also worked at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC and was on the staff of former speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi . Dr Adam Cobb had worked for the federal government , the Royal Australian Air Force and Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove ( pictured ) in East Timor .
Dr Adam Cobb , 45 , was arrested in Portsmouth , New Hampshire on Friday . He allegedly uploaded images of child pornography to Tumblr website . The 45-year-old held senior military and government roles in Australia . He was in the US working as a research professor and director at the prestigious US Naval War College in Rhode Island . If convicted of the child pornography charges he faces 20 years ' jail .