Navy Sponsor Taping Gay Nude Midshipmen

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - An Annapolis resident who hosted U.S. Naval Academy students through a sponsorship program is being investigated for allegedly videotaping nude midshipmen without their consent, according to published reports.

A spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service confirmed Wednesday that the agency is investigating a sponsor, the name for Annapolis residents who agree to open their homes for midshipmen to relax on weekends or school holidays.

"We are investigating allegations of wrongdoing against a sponsor, but other than that we can't comment," spokesman Ed Buice said.

Two newspapers, citing documents related to the case, described the sponsor as a former medical officer at the Academy who now works for the Navy in Washington. He has not been charged, according to a report Tuesday in The (Annapolis) Capital and in Wednesday's The (Baltimore) Sun. The documents include a search warrant executed at the sponsor's home, the papers reported.

The recordings allegedly included a midshipman having sex with his girlfriend, said Charles Gittins, a Virginia attorney and Academy graduate who specializes in military law.

Gittins told The Associated Press that he was contacted by the family of a female midshipman who stayed inthe sponsor's home.

"I was contacted about the videotaping," Gittins said. One midshipman who visited the home found a recording of himself having sex, Gittins said.

The doctor named in the published reports, and his lawyer, did not immediately respond to calls for comment Wednesday about the videotaping investigation. A spokesman for the Navy bureau where the doctor currently is employed also would not comment. The Naval Academy referred questions to NCIS.

Local authorities are being briefed about the case, but they're not investigating it, Kristin Riggin, a spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney, said Wednesday.