Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
October 30, 2007
Pg. B5
By Raymond McCaffrey, Washington Post Staff Writer
A Navy doctor who served as a sponsor for U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen "violated the trust" of the students by using surveillance equipment installed in an air purifier at his Annapolis home to make "secret sex tapes" of them, a Navy prosecutor said yesterday at the start of the doctor's court-martial.
But Cmdr. Kevin Ronan's attorney, William T. Ferris, said the tapes were made by a former midshipman who used them in an attempt to extort money from his client. Ferris said the tapes became public after his client refused to give money to the former midshipman, who had been dismissed from the Naval Academy for academic reasons and needed money for expenses.
"This was a plan to extort money from Commander Ronan that went awry," Ferris said during his opening statement at the Washington Navy Yard.
Ronan, who is assigned to the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the District, is charged with conduct unbecoming an officer, illegal wiretapping and obstruction of justice.
Lt. Justin Henderson, a Navy prosecutor, said the tapes were made with an elaborate surveillance system that Ronan bought in April 2006. Henderson said a camera inside the air purifier transmitted the images to a receiver, from which Ronan made recordings and edited "the videos down to their pure explicit" sexual content before saving the product on DVDs. Henderson said two midshipmen discovered recordings in January and gave them to Navy authorities.
The owner of the company that designed the surveillance equipment said he sold the air purifier to Ronan for $677 and included upgraded audio and video components. He said the equipment is often used by parents to watch babysitters.
Ronan served as the doctor for Navy athletic teams and as the brigade medical officer assigned to Bancroft Hall, the dormitory where midshipmen live.
Henderson said the prosecution's case against Ronan, who sponsored a dozen midshipmen at his three-bedroom home near the Naval Academy, would be based on "largely circumstantial evidence" that was "overwhelming."
The tapes, Henderson said, show the midshipmen in the "most private situations." The evidence, he said, will include photos and videos retrieved from the hard drives in Ronan's home computers. Found were "images of athletic young men" and 2,000 "homosexual videos." Evidence was found in a file labeled "lectures," Henderson said.
"It was Dr. Ronan's electronic fingerprint," he said.
In an interview after the first day of testimony, Ronan's attorney accused the prosecutors of engaging in "a deliberate attempt to prejudice the members" of the panel by insinuating that his client is gay.
In court, Ferris said his client's computer could have been used by any of the students who stayed at his home.
Ferris said the expelled midshipman he alleges tried to extort Ronan was found to have fabricated his academy grade-point average when applying for a job as a substitute teacher in Anne Arundel County and to have falsified a letter of admission to San Jose State University while trying to defer a service duty to the Naval Academy.
The surveillance camera, Ferris said, was bought so Ronan, who is single, could see whether midshipmen were having parties while he was away.
Ronan could be dismissed from the Navy, lose his medical license and face jail time if convicted of a felony, said Norman Singer, who is representing clients who think they were videotaped by the doctor.
October 30, 2007
Pg. B5
By Raymond McCaffrey, Washington Post Staff Writer
A Navy doctor who served as a sponsor for U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen "violated the trust" of the students by using surveillance equipment installed in an air purifier at his Annapolis home to make "secret sex tapes" of them, a Navy prosecutor said yesterday at the start of the doctor's court-martial.
But Cmdr. Kevin Ronan's attorney, William T. Ferris, said the tapes were made by a former midshipman who used them in an attempt to extort money from his client. Ferris said the tapes became public after his client refused to give money to the former midshipman, who had been dismissed from the Naval Academy for academic reasons and needed money for expenses.
"This was a plan to extort money from Commander Ronan that went awry," Ferris said during his opening statement at the Washington Navy Yard.
Ronan, who is assigned to the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the District, is charged with conduct unbecoming an officer, illegal wiretapping and obstruction of justice.
Lt. Justin Henderson, a Navy prosecutor, said the tapes were made with an elaborate surveillance system that Ronan bought in April 2006. Henderson said a camera inside the air purifier transmitted the images to a receiver, from which Ronan made recordings and edited "the videos down to their pure explicit" sexual content before saving the product on DVDs. Henderson said two midshipmen discovered recordings in January and gave them to Navy authorities.
The owner of the company that designed the surveillance equipment said he sold the air purifier to Ronan for $677 and included upgraded audio and video components. He said the equipment is often used by parents to watch babysitters.
Ronan served as the doctor for Navy athletic teams and as the brigade medical officer assigned to Bancroft Hall, the dormitory where midshipmen live.
Henderson said the prosecution's case against Ronan, who sponsored a dozen midshipmen at his three-bedroom home near the Naval Academy, would be based on "largely circumstantial evidence" that was "overwhelming."
The tapes, Henderson said, show the midshipmen in the "most private situations." The evidence, he said, will include photos and videos retrieved from the hard drives in Ronan's home computers. Found were "images of athletic young men" and 2,000 "homosexual videos." Evidence was found in a file labeled "lectures," Henderson said.
"It was Dr. Ronan's electronic fingerprint," he said.
In an interview after the first day of testimony, Ronan's attorney accused the prosecutors of engaging in "a deliberate attempt to prejudice the members" of the panel by insinuating that his client is gay.
In court, Ferris said his client's computer could have been used by any of the students who stayed at his home.
Ferris said the expelled midshipman he alleges tried to extort Ronan was found to have fabricated his academy grade-point average when applying for a job as a substitute teacher in Anne Arundel County and to have falsified a letter of admission to San Jose State University while trying to defer a service duty to the Naval Academy.
The surveillance camera, Ferris said, was bought so Ronan, who is single, could see whether midshipmen were having parties while he was away.
Ronan could be dismissed from the Navy, lose his medical license and face jail time if convicted of a felony, said Norman Singer, who is representing clients who think they were videotaped by the doctor.