WASHINGTON, DC — Checking the contents of employee laptops is becoming an increasingly popular way for companies to learn their workers’ deepest, darkest secrets – and then fire them. It’s not just the private sector using this winnowing technique, however. The U.S. government also finds it useful, as Navy doctor and Commander Kevin Ronan is discovering much to his dismay.Ronan has been accused of shooting all-male sex videos in his Annapolis home. While this may not seem very serious to those with no problem with homosexuality or porn – the fact that the footage of Naval Academy midshipmen was taken surreptitiously likely changes the matter for some.
Alas, given the military’s obsession with heterosexuality, the distinction between consensual video and non-consensual video will likely be lost, much like Ronan’s military career – regardless of the court’s decision about the video contents.
Ronan worked as a team physician for the Naval Academy sports team, representing the gymnastics team, as well as a medical officer in the midshipmen’s dormitory prior to becoming involved with the Navy Bureau of Medicine in Washington. While working with the dorm population, Ronan acted as a “sponsor” at the services academy, making his home available as a place for some R&R for midshipmen on weekends and holidays.
Two of the young men who enjoyed the hospitality of Ronan’s home – and of other midshipmen – testified earlier in the year that their host “used a remote camera and transmitter, hidden in an air purifier, to record them” either alone or with others. No equipment was located during an inspection of Ronan’s home, but his computer was seized and its contents evaluated.
Located on the laptop were all-male sex images and a video starring gay adult performer, Brent Everett, two things that may be interpreted by the Navy as admissions to homosexuality, which would result in his forced removal from service, thanks to former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s “Don’t ask/Don’t tell” policy. Additionally, Ronan could serve more than a decade in prison, receive a dishonorable discharge, and lose his medical license.
Ronan insists that the entire matter is an example of revenge against him by academy students who have been expelled for inappropriate conduct and hope to paint him as a homosexual. Nonetheless, the officiating judge has ruled that the content is admissible in court.
