Ex-Tank Commander Accused of Child Porn Somehow Makes Things Even Worse

After a tank-commander-turned-ER-nurse was arrested for allegedly taking nude photographs of his girlfriend’s toddler-aged daughter, the Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran dug himself into an even deeper hole by threatening to kill the federal agent investigating the case, according to a newly unsealed criminal complaint.

“This message is to let you know don’t you ever fucking think you can outsmart a fucking tank commander, do you understand me?” retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel W. Prime allegedly said in a lengthy voicemail message to the investigator. “You Air Force bitch. I promise you, try to set me up again, that’s your goddamn life.”

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) agent’s “dumb fucking ass” had “made a horrible decision and it’s going to cost you your career,” Prime warned, the complaint states. “But at least it’s not going to cost you your life, right? At least I hope it doesn’t.”

Prime’s troubles began at Barksdale Air Force Base in northwest Louisiana, where Prime’s then-girlfriend worked as a civilian contractor. In July 2020, Hunter Young, a special agent with Barksdale’s AFOSI detachment, interviewed Prime’s partner, Christy Stevenson, about some government equipment that had recently been lost. During the interview, Stevenson told the agent that she had previously “noticed several nude photos and videos of her toddler-aged daughter on Prime’s phone.”

Barksdale Air Force Base has played host to a number of bizarre crimes in recent years, including a foiled murder-for-hire plot in which a young airman plotted to kill her husband by spiking his energy drinks and snacks with a lethal dose of fentanyl. The installation has also seen an unexplained uptick in murders on its grounds, alarming and dumbfounding senior leadership.

Stevenson happened to have Prime’s phone, and turned it over to Young. The Air Force eventually handed the case off to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, over jurisdictional issues. In December 2020, Prime was arrested at the Shreveport Regional Airport and charged with state child pornography crimes.

More than two years later, on Jan. 5, 2022, Prime called Young, the original Air Force investigator, on his government-issued mobile phone and “left a voicemail threatening to physically harm” him, according to the complaint.

“This message is for Special Agent Young and by Special Agent I mean special education agent, traitor, fucking loser, fucking bitch-ass punk Young, this is Daniel Prime,” it began. “You remember me? We had that visit and you visited with Christy and then passed on bullshit material and figured nobody would find out. I guess you didn’t realize who you were fucking with… My name is Sgt. Daniel Prime M1A1 Abrams Tank Commander decorated combat veteran…”

Prime then appeared to tell Young that he had derogatory information about his past, and promised to inform his inspector general with the dirt, the complaint says, adding that Prime informed Young that he had “48 hours to find Christy Stevenson and have her ass arrested or I promise you I’m going to hang your ass.”

“Now I’ll be real with you,” Prime went on. “I found out four days ago that some of my fucking five SFS (Security Forces Squadron) buddies were going to take care of you, and I put an end to it. I told my lawyer today, I asked him if it was okay if I tell you and he said it was up to me. My days of killing are done. But you fucking knew I never touched anything [sic] did anything with kiddie porn.”

Later that day, Prime followed up with a series of text messages, according to the complaint. In them, Prime “alluded to violent acts he may have taken, namely, the fact that he ‘broke the rules of engagement a million times pulling my blood in 92 on a headmaster’s fucking skull.” Another stated, “I don’t know how you’re going to come out of this unless you pull off something When I say you could not be more fucked you could literally not be more fucked.”

A man who answered the phone at Prime’s home in Shreveport, Louisiana, said he wasn’t home when The Daily Beast called for comment. Stevenson did not respond to voicemail messages and emails from The Daily Beast seeking comment. Hunter Young was unable to be reached.

Reached by phone, Prime’s ex-wife said she was well aware of the charges, telling The Daily Beast, “We did not part on great terms, we’ve been divorced for several years now. I’ve also been the focus of some of his social media rants myself, so I’m just trying to stay out of it right now.”

“He’s a 41-year-old adult, and it’s really best for me not to say anything at this point,” Prime’s father, John, told The Daily Beast. “God help us if we get into being responsible for the actions of our children when they’re in their 40s and 50s. There’s always more to the story than what you read in the indictments. A lot more. But until this is over, it’s always best not to play it out in the media. And that is to say, be gentle.”

Prime currently works as a traveling ER nurse, according to his LinkedIn profile. In March 2020, shortly before the disturbing photos and videos were allegedly discovered on his phone, Prime said he accepted a 13-week contract to provide COVID-19 care for the New York City Health Department “as a part of the relief and surge forces set to deploy on April 7 and April 13, 2020.”

“’ll keep you posted as best I can, and thank you for any prayers and positive vibes you may send my way,” he wrote. “I love you mom, don’t worry.”

Prime’s profile also includes glowing reference letters from former military brass, who describe him as having “the competitive spirit, the energy and the drive to achieve lofty goals.”

“His commitment to this nation and its values are graphically reflected by and in his military service before, during, and after Operation Iraqi Freedom,” one of them says.

In another, a retired Army Reserve colonel says Prime’s supervisors, “year after year, recommended promoting [Prime] over peers and assigning much higher levels of responsibility.”

Prime is now charged with influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal official.