<p>Actually, two news sources that won't cover this story will be:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>NPR (don't miss Feinstein's great essay on Navy football though, and 'A Soldier's Heart,' book preview by West Point English professor)</p></li>
<li><p>The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on Public Television</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Ronan sentenced to 46 months for secret taping of midshipmen having sex</p>
<p>Navy</a> doctor convicted on all counts -- baltimoresun.com</p>
<p>
[quote]
A Navy physician accused of secretly recording Naval Academy midshipmen having sex in his home was sentenced this afternoon to 46 months in a Navy brig.</p>
<p>The jury of five men and one woman -- all Navy captains -- also dismissed Cmdr. Kevin Ronan from the Navy, and he will not be allowed to collect a pension.</p>
<p>Hours earlier, the jurors had convicted Ronan of all seven charges of conduct unbecoming an officer, illegal wiretapping and obstruction of justice....
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</p>
<p>Commander Was Accused of Secretly Taping Midshipmen in Sex Acts</p>
<p>
[quote]
A Navy doctor accused of secretly making sex tapes of U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen at his home in Annapolis was sentenced today to 46 months in a military prison after being found guilty of all counts against him at a court-martial. </p>
<p>Cmdr. Kevin J. Ronan, 41, was found guilty earlier today of conduct unbecoming an officer, illegal wiretapping and obstruction of justice....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
A Navy jury Friday sentenced a Navy doctor to 46 months in the brig for using a hidden camera to videotape Naval Academy midshipmen engaged in sex acts in his home.</p>
<p>The jury of six Navy captains deliberated for six hours over two days before finding Cmdr. Kevin Ronan guilty of seven counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, three counts of illegal wiretapping and one count of obstruction of justice....
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</p>
<p>LOL - dude. babe. </p>
<p>Civil court - other than rendering Ronan penniless - suing him for all he is worth, who else would be involved?</p>
<p>Ronan - probably isn't worth all that much - a couple hundred thousand - certainly not millions....... after the attorneys and the money being split among the victims it really won't amount to much.
Maybe not enough for a high-priced lawyers to waste time with.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Civil court - other than rendering Ronan penniless - suing him for all he is worth, who else would be involved?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I actually have to wonder if a civil case is even a possibility since this is being done under military justice. I'm no lawyer, so I'm curious.</p>
<p>Still, you're probably right. A civil case won't generate much.</p>
<p>46 months isn't a trivial amount of time.</p>
<p>
[quote]
46 months isn't a trivial amount of time.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>In cases like this, the punishment will not end with his release from the brig. If you rob a bank or beat someone within an inch of death, after you serve your time, you leave prison as an ex-con. Yes you leave with a record, have requirements to meet, but your name isn't added to every local database in the country as a sexual predator, nor is it accessible by anyone with a PC and internet access. I have to believe Ronan will leave jail and pick up a level 3 sex offender status. That status will impact where he can live, how he will be received and the jobs he can hold. It will most certainly bring with it a host of issues that will impact his life in a negative way. As a doctor and an educated professional his time in jail time may prove to be the easiest part of his punishment to deal with.</p>
<p>Just kinda thinking out loud... but will Ronan get sex offender status?</p>
<p>I don't know exactly how it works, but will him receiving that "status" be hampered by the fact that he was not convicted by a civilian court, or that the charges that he was convicted are not sex related per se (wiretapping, conduct unbecoming, and obstruction of justice.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
In cases like this, the punishment will not end with his release from the brig.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Oh, no doubt, and deservedly so. I have zero issues with that.</p>
<p>Still, I'm curious what civil recourse (if any) the victims may have since this was handled under the UCMJ.</p>
<p>We also have to wait and see if any appeal is filed, and where that goes...</p>
<p>
[quote]
but will Ronan get sex offender status?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You raise some good questions and you may very well be right. The issues around a military trial and his convictions for the offenses mentioned may not map into the civilian world of law, particularly when it applies to sex offender status.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Civil litigation would probably be a total waste of resources. The plaintiffs would most likely end up with an empty judgement that they would never be able to collect. You can't get blood out of a turnip. The Goldmans won a judgement against OJ Simpson; all they received was the satisfaction of winning a case and the opportunity to ride his a$$ for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The military has reduced a sentence for a Navy doctor ordered to serve more than 3½ years in prison for using a hidden camera to record Naval Academy midshipmen having sex, a Navy spokesman said Monday.</p>
<p>Cmdr. Kevin Ronan will now serve two years instead, if he is a model prisoner, said Guy Schein, a spokesman for the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington, where Ronan was assigned.</p>
<p>In November, a jury of six Navy captains gave Ronan a 46-month term in the Navy brig and ordered his dismissal from the military. He had been convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer, illegal wiretapping and obstruction of justice. He began serving his sentence shortly afterward....
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</p>
<p>He gets 2 years in brig for sex tapes of Mids</p>
<p>Naval</a> officer's sentence is cut -- baltimoresun.com</p>
<p>
[quote]
A Navy physician convicted in November of secretly taping Naval Academy midshipmen having sex in his Annapolis home has received a reduced prison sentence, a Navy spokesman said yesterday.</p>
<p>Cmdr. Kevin J. Ronan, with good behavior, will serve two years in a Navy brig instead of the 46 months imposed by a military jury. He will be dismissed from the Navy and lose his pension....
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</p>