A female U.S. Army private who appeared in several nauseating photos of Iraqi prisoners being abused has been charged by the U.S. military.

Lynndie England is facing charges of "assaulting Iraqi detainees on multiple occasions;" conspiring with another soldier, Spc. Charles Graner, to mistreat the prisoners; committing an indecent act; and committing acts "that were prejudicial to good order and discipline and were of nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces through her mistreatment of Iraqi detainees."

The charges were unveiled late Friday in a statement issued by the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The charges must go through what the Army calls an Article 32 investigation, which is similar to a preliminary inquiry in a Canadian criminal prosecution.

She hasn't had a lawyer appointed yet.

England 'kind-hearted': sister

Meanwhile, Jessica Klinestiver says she's proud of her "kind-hearted" sister.

Klinestiver said England probably posed for the photographs because she was following orders.

"Certain people in the army have told her to do what she did," Klinestiver said.

While they won't say anything more on that score, the family of another accused soldier is adding details about what might have happened in Abu Ghraib prison.

"There were a lot of people standing around watching this going on.  It wasn't a secret," said William Lawson, uncle of uncle of Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick, another person facing charges.

Lawson said Frederick and other took the pictures for private contractors who were working as interrogators to use as threats.

"We'll make these photographs and then we'll show them to new prisoners that come into the system and say, 'hey, we'll do this to you'," he said.

One intelligence expert said using a woman in the photo makes a certain kind of terrible senses.

"There's nothing more humiliating than a Western woman ... humiliating a male Arab man in a sexually degrading way," said Tim Brown of Global Security.

Spokespeople for various human rights groups said this type of behaviour has been going on since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., particularly in Afghanistan.

When it comes time, Klinestiver said her sister "will speak her mind."

England pregnant

In a press conference from the soldier's tiny hometown -- Fort Ashby, West Virginia, the family's lawyer, Roy Hardy, revealed England is five months pregnant.

Hardy says the father is Graner, one of the six soldiers who has been charged in the prisoner abuse scandal.

"There's a current relationship but I don't think they get to spend much time together," Hardy said. He added that England visited the baby's father in his cell block after he was charged.

Hardy began by showing media various pictures of England with family, and friends. They were in stark contrast to the photographs showing England in Iraq.
 
In one photo from Abu Ghraib, she's giving a thumbs-up in front of a naked Iraqi prisoner while pointing to his genitals. In another, she's holding a leash with an Iraqi prisoner attached at the neck.

England is now staying at a military base in Fort Bragg.

"We are in the process of retaining a lawyer for Lynndie for her criminal case ...," Hardy said. "We have a lot of offers of free legal help for her."

England's sister said their parents are coming to terms with their daughter's awkward situation. "They're dealing with it. It's a lot to deal with," Klinestiver said.

But on her base, the fact that abusing prisoners is a crime under the Geneva Conventions didn't bother some of England's peers at Fort Bragg.

"Nope. Those are bad people," said one when asked if the photos bothered him. "'Cause they're killing our guys. Why can we do what we gotta do?"

With a report from CTV's Kathy Tomlinson