NAVY OFFICER DENIES ILLICIT VIDEOS

A US Navy doctor is facing charges of making illicit videos of Naval students with a hidden camera.

Navy Cmdr. Kevin Ronan, who is in the midst of a court-martial, is accused of filming Naval Academy midshipmen, without their knowledge, as they had sex and masturbated when they stayed in a guest bedroom at his house.

The men stayed at his home as part of an academy program that places Naval students in private homes.

Forty-one-year-old Ronan has denied the charges, saying that he had originally used the camera, hidden within an air freshener, to ensure that parties were not thrown at the house while he was away. He claims that he later installed the device in the guest room solely as an air purifier.

Prosecutors say that they have found incriminating pornographic video files on Ronan’s computer, but he has denied that he placed them there.

Ronan’s house guests also found DVDs containing the videos in January. He claims that one of the students, who has accused him of the crime, had used the camera to film himself and the other midshipmen.

Ronan could be sentenced to ten years in prison if convicted of all charges, which include conduct unbecoming an officer, illegal wiretapping and obstruction of justice