Paratrooper pleads guilty in porn case

FORT BRAGG - An Army paratrooper pleaded guilty Thursday to engaging in sex acts on a military-themed gay pornographic Web site and a judge sentenced him to prison for about 2 months and a bad conduct discharge when the time is served.

Judge Col. Grant S. Jaquith accepted the pleas to three charges, including a new one involving drug use, then recessed the court while he deliberated a sentencing recommendation for Pfc. Richard T. Ashley.

In addition to the prison sentence, Ashley, 21, was demoted to private and will lose two-thirds of his pay, the judge said. Ashley was one of seven members of the 82nd Airborne Division charged with appearing on the site.

"I’ve embarrassed the entire Army, my country and most of all, dishonored God," Ashley said during the sentencing hearing, at which he also apologized to his unit’s former commander.

Jaquith accepted guilty pleas to charges of sodomy, conduct detrimental to the Army and the unit and drug use, which involved the use of a prescription drug during the weekend before Valentine’s Day.

Ashley pleaded not guilty to pandering, and prosecutors withdrew the charge.

During the 90-minute questioning by the judge, Ashley calmly and politely described in graphic detail what he did in two videos.

Jaquith asked him repeatedly why he was guilty of the charges.

"Because soldiers having sex on camera for money – homosexual, bisexual – made the unit look bad, sir, and the public saw it on the news," he said. "It lowered the esteem of the public toward the military."

"I don’t condone anything, but I just can’t believe anything we’re hearing is my grandson because we’ve never seen anything like this out of him," said Barbara Sue Hale, whose hometown was not available.

His mother, Tamara Chambers, described how her son struggled in school, then eventually dropped out. He decided to join the Army after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she said.

"I wasn’t good at much, but I wanted to fight for my country," Ashley said, describing his difficulty in high school.