Over 100 nonconsensual sexual videos of U.S. service members stationed at Naval Base Guam were uploaded to an explicit videos site where they were publicly viewable for about a week in 2020, according to recently unsealed documents that are part of a federal and Navy investigation.
The videos appeared to capture the military members masturbating while unaware they were being filmed by hidden cameras. The videos appeared to be taken both aboard Navy ships and at a location “believed to be the men’s restroom of the Liberty Center aboard Naval Base Guam,” according to court documents. The images, according to search warrant documents, appeared to be “filmed either above, below, or through holes in the wall of the bathroom stalls.”
Investigators determined that “the greatest number of identifiable victims” appeared to be assigned to two Guam-based ships, the USS Emory S. Land and the USS Frank Cable, subtender sister ships based in Guam.
The search warrant requested by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was unsealed in the federal district court in Guam April 17 and first reported the Pacific Daily News. The search warrant in September 2020 sought information on the owner or owners of an account named “playguy148” on the pornographic website PornHub, including the associated email address, join and last login date, and IP addresses used by the account.
According to federal court documents, NCIS was notified on Jan. 8 2020 about videos featuring U.S. service members posted on the explicit video website PornHub.com. Some of the videos captured servicemembers in identifiable uniforms, and some of the videos appeared to be named after each victim, using titles the court documents described as: “[U.S. NAVY RANK] [LAST NAME].” Other videos had names like “Horny Marine” or “Horny Sailor.”
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On Jan. 13, 2020, the NCIS agent found that 86 videos were originally uploaded and two days later the number rose to 102 videos. NCIS contacted the company, MG FreesitesLTD, which operates the Pornhub.com website notifying them that the videos were “clandestinely filmed” and requested the content be removed and the account information preserved.
On Jan. 16, a representative from Pornhub confirmed to NCIS that the content was taken down.
The NCIS agent who requested the warrant alleged that the owner or owners of the account had violated federal laws by committing video voyeurism and illegal interception of communications. The charges carry up to one and five years in prison, plus a fine for each crime.
A request for comment sent to the Navy and NCIS were not immediately returned.
The USS Emory S. Land and USS Frank Cable are sister ships of Emory S. Land-class submarine tenders. Each ship carries about 900 sailors and 150 U.S. Merchant Marines. Naval Base Guam is home to Submarine Squadron 15, Naval Special Warfare Unit.
The case comes among increasing legal concerns over sexual videos uploaded to the internet without consent, including both hidden-camera videos and deep-fake materials that are AI generated.