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Student buys ad to apologize to sex partner he secretly videotaped
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/1813067
Associated Press
BRYAN -- A former Texas A&M student who videotaped a sexual encounter with his girlfriend without her knowledge and showed the footage to his fraternity brothers must apologize to her in a half-page ad in the campus newspaper.
Brennan Bice, 21, was sentenced Monday to five years probation and a month in jail. He also was ordered to take out a half-page ad in the Texas A&M student newspaper, apologizing to his former girlfriend.
Bice was charged under a little-known law that makes it a felony to videotape or photograph someone without consent if the images are intended for arousal or sexual gratification.
Police said he videotaped consensual sex with his unsuspecting girlfriend, a freshman at Texas A&M, on Oct. 8 and showed the footage to as many as 15 members of his fraternity. When the woman found out, she notified authorities.
Bice was arrested and pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony charge, which is punishable by up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
The former girlfriend addressed him Monday during an emotional sentencing hearing at the Brazos County Courthouse, the Bryan-College Station Eagle reported in its Tuesday editions.
"You violated me in ways I don't think you'll ever understand," she said. She was afraid to even be on campus the past five months because she didn't know who had seen the tape, she said.
"My freshman year of college has been a relentless nightmare," she said.
Bice, who was suspended from A&M and now attends Blinn College in Brenham, was taken into custody after the hearing on Monday the first day of spring break. He will remain at the Brazos County Jail until Sunday. Then, he will serve the rest of his 30-day jail sentence on weekday nights, said his attorney, Travis Bryan III.
Under a plea agreement, Bice also must pay a $1,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service. If he does not violate the terms of the plea agreement during a five-year deferred adjudication period, the court will not convict of him of the felony. He has no prior felony convictions.
State District Judge Rick Davis, who approved the plea agreement, told Bice he was getting off with a fairly mild punishment.
"You've taken something that should be precious between a couple and made a cheap thing, and made it an ugly thing," Davis said.
The judge told Bice to think about the anger he'd feel if someone unknowingly videotaped his future wife, or mother, or sister, having sex.
In Bice's advertisement, which is set to run in next Monday's edition of the college newspaper, The Battalion, he apologizes to the woman and her family. He also says he did not know about the videotaping law.
The ad -- which cost Bice $637, Bryan said -- acknowledges wrongdoing and urges other Texas A&M students not to participate in "this type of immoral and illegal conduct."
Phelps said the unusual advertisement makes Bice's arrest a cautionary tale to other young men while serving the community's interests.
"This punishment fits the crime," he said.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/1813067
Associated Press
BRYAN -- A former Texas A&M student who videotaped a sexual encounter with his girlfriend without her knowledge and showed the footage to his fraternity brothers must apologize to her in a half-page ad in the campus newspaper.
Brennan Bice, 21, was sentenced Monday to five years probation and a month in jail. He also was ordered to take out a half-page ad in the Texas A&M student newspaper, apologizing to his former girlfriend.
Bice was charged under a little-known law that makes it a felony to videotape or photograph someone without consent if the images are intended for arousal or sexual gratification.
Police said he videotaped consensual sex with his unsuspecting girlfriend, a freshman at Texas A&M, on Oct. 8 and showed the footage to as many as 15 members of his fraternity. When the woman found out, she notified authorities.
Bice was arrested and pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony charge, which is punishable by up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
The former girlfriend addressed him Monday during an emotional sentencing hearing at the Brazos County Courthouse, the Bryan-College Station Eagle reported in its Tuesday editions.
"You violated me in ways I don't think you'll ever understand," she said. She was afraid to even be on campus the past five months because she didn't know who had seen the tape, she said.
"My freshman year of college has been a relentless nightmare," she said.
Bice, who was suspended from A&M and now attends Blinn College in Brenham, was taken into custody after the hearing on Monday the first day of spring break. He will remain at the Brazos County Jail until Sunday. Then, he will serve the rest of his 30-day jail sentence on weekday nights, said his attorney, Travis Bryan III.
Under a plea agreement, Bice also must pay a $1,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service. If he does not violate the terms of the plea agreement during a five-year deferred adjudication period, the court will not convict of him of the felony. He has no prior felony convictions.
State District Judge Rick Davis, who approved the plea agreement, told Bice he was getting off with a fairly mild punishment.
"You've taken something that should be precious between a couple and made a cheap thing, and made it an ugly thing," Davis said.
The judge told Bice to think about the anger he'd feel if someone unknowingly videotaped his future wife, or mother, or sister, having sex.
In Bice's advertisement, which is set to run in next Monday's edition of the college newspaper, The Battalion, he apologizes to the woman and her family. He also says he did not know about the videotaping law.
The ad -- which cost Bice $637, Bryan said -- acknowledges wrongdoing and urges other Texas A&M students not to participate in "this type of immoral and illegal conduct."
Phelps said the unusual advertisement makes Bice's arrest a cautionary tale to other young men while serving the community's interests.
"This punishment fits the crime," he said.
