Joe Darby, the soldier who triggered the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal by sending incriminating photos to military investigators, poses in New York, Aug. 10, 2006.
The Leak: In 2004, Graphic pictures of prisoners being abused by U.S. military personnel in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison were given to journalist Seymour Hersh and the CBS News TV show, 60 Minutes II and then, made public. Amongst photographs of prisoners of war being tortured in compromising position, one shows naked Iraqi detainees piled on top of each other, with U.S security personnel showing thumbs-up signs in the background.
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Joe Darby, a U.S. reserve soldier stumbled upon the pictures on colleague Charles Graner’s camera while posted in Abu Ghraib. It took him a few weeks before he decided he had to tell. Darby was promised anonymity, but then Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld exposed his identity while publicly thanking him on television.
He was quickly shipped home to the U.S. and given armed protection for a few months.
The Outcome: Eleven low-ranking soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, a unit of reservists that guarded the prison, were convicted on criminal charges for the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Notably, Pvt. Lynndie England and Spc. Charles Graner Jr., soldiers who were in the leaked photos, were sentenced to three and 10 years in prison with a demotion, respectively, TIME reported. Charges included assault, conspiracy, maltreatment of detainees, committing indecent acts and dereliction of duty.
The prison commander in Iraq at the time, Janis Karpinski, faced administrative action and was demoted from the rank of general but faced no criminal charges. Others were discharged from duty and convicted in court martials. Graner was released from prison in August 2011.
Joe Darby, who has since left the reservist unit, testified at the trials of his fellow soldiers and has moved to a new town with his family.
“I worry about the one guy who wants to get even with me,” Darby said in his interview to CBS News referring to Charles Garner, “And that one guy could hurt me and my family.”