Twelve sailors from the USS Wyoming have been implicated in the filming of their female shipmates while they changed and showered. The group of men reportedly filmed every woman on board over the course of 10 months in 2014 until an electronics technician on another ship caught wind of the activities and reported them, according to The Washington Times. Ten of the 12 implicated soldiers have been prosecuted and punished with varying degrees of severity. Some will receive a jail sentence, while others only had their pay docked.
Capt. William Houston, the head of Submarine Squadron 20, sent an endorsement letter alongside the recently released full report of the incident. The letter stated that "the abhorrent behavior of this small number of personnel is not indicative of the superior sailors that comprise these crews and the submarine force," reported The Navy Times.
The report shows that there were a few sailors eager to spy on their teammates and several others who neglected to report the ring, noted The Navy Times. Many accused one another when interviewed, trying to push blame away from themselves. The top submarine commander called the act a "breach of trust."
"The thing with the Wyoming is, to me that was such a shocking event. It was completely 180 degrees out from what my experience was. I couldn't really even fathom that one of our guys [would] do that to me," Lt. Jennifer Carroll told The Navy Times. Carrol served on the submarine Maine and was never recorded by a shipmate.
When asked why he neglected to report the situation, one sailor said, "I was still somewhat new to the division, and so I didn't want to say anything because the higher ranking MTs would always treat the lower ranks like trash and would always try to put them down, so I didn't want to worsen my life more than it already was, so I tried to ignore it and stay out of it for fear of being disowned by the division," according to The Navy Times.
Navy prosecutors reported that the videos were traded on board by sailors "like Pokemon" cards, exchanged for energy drinks and other items, noted Fox News.
