WASHINGTON — The Navy is investigating who secretly recorded dozens of videos of service members in a bathroom and then shared the videos with a pornographic website, according to two U.S. military officials.
An agent from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service discovered the videos on the website Pornhub earlier this month. Several of the videos showed sailors and Marines in uniform with visible name patches. The clips also appear to include civilians, the officials said.
The officials believe the videos were taken through a peephole in a bathroom, and the individuals were not aware they were being taped. The footage shows people changing their clothes, but the officials were not aware of any sexual acts.
Some of the individuals in the videos were assigned to the USS Emory S. Land, a vessel that supplies submarines and is assigned to a port in Guam, the officials said, but they could not give a time frame for when the videos were recorded.
The videos have been taken down from Pornhub, the officials said. NCIS agents have begun notifying people identified in the footage but the effort remains ongoing. Representatives from the command in Guam and a legal advocate are assisting with notifications, officials said.
Blake White, vice president of Pornhub, said the site had received a request from NCIS "to remove the material in question and we did. We are currently working alongside them to assist with their investigation. Here at Pornhub, we immediately remove any content that violates our terms of use as soon as we are made aware of it."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Navy's Pacific Fleet said, "NCIS is investigating a report of non-consensual online distribution of explicit videos and images of service members. The investigation is in the early stages."
"Potential victims are being notified in a coordinated effort by NCIS, command leadership, and Victim’s Legal Counsel. The website hosting the videos and images at issue has complied with an NCIS request to remove the videos and images from its site and is cooperating with the ongoing NCIS investigation.
"The U.S. Navy is a professional organization and these videos are not indicative of the Navy’s core values of honor, courage, and commitment."
A spokesperson for the NCIS did not respond to requests for comment.
