Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryce Mezney was sentenced Thursday after admitting he used his cellphone to secretly videotape his female shipmates during a 2015 deployment aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.
Mezney, 22, was sentenced by a military judge to 21 months of confinement but will serve only a year under the terms of a presentencing agreement reached between sides, The Virginian-Pilot reported Friday. He’s also been reduced in rank to seaman and given a bad conduct discharge by the judge, Cmdr. Heather Partridge, according to the newspaper.
The sailor joined the Navy in 2012 and was working as a hull maintenance technician on the Roosevelt as it traveled from San Diego back to its home dock in Norfolk last year when the incidents occurred, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
Mezney placed his phone up to a grate in the ship’s stateroom doors and used his device to quietly record multiple women without their knowledge, the newspaper said.
Mezney managed to record five junior officers and a civilian before being caught by a seventh woman, an officer, while she changed clothing.
“I was forced to stay on the ship even though I didn’t feel comfortable where I worked,” the officer testified at Thursday’s hearing, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
Mezney cried as he apologized to his victims in court this week, according to the newspaper.
“I was being very stupid to record someone who should feel safe,” he reportedly said.
Navy prosecutors had sought three years’ confinement, according to the newspaper. Earlier reporting indicates Mezney grew up in Fort Morgan, Colorado, prior to enlisting, and had previously been deployed off the coast of Bahrain.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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