FED:Spanking navy officer launches appeal

AAP General News (Australia)
12-20-2011
FED:Spanking navy officer launches appeal

CANBERRA, Dec 20 AAP - A naval officer sentenced to 18 months' jail for spanking a
junior female sailor is appealing his conviction.

A court martial panel last week found Lieutenant John Alan Jones guilty of seven acts
of indecency against the junior sailor, who cannot be named.

The acts included four occasions when he smacked the sailor and others when he told
her to take off her pants, pulled down her underwear, made her lift up her top, and touched
her bottom.

Jones was sentenced to 18 months in a civilian prison but could be released after a
year with a six-month good behaviour bond.

He was also demoted from the rank of lieutenant commander and fined $2000 for trying
to destroy a defence-issued laptop.

On Monday Jones' lawyers filed an appeal of the decision.

They say the prosecutor's opening address to the court martial panel was "inflammatory
in tone" and gave rise to a miscarriage of justice.

Among the grounds for appeal, Jones' defence argues, is that the judge advocate should
have not allowed as evidence a secret recording the sailor made of a conversation between
her and Jones about the smacking.

"The judge advocate correctly determined [the tape] was made illegally," the appeal
application states.

The defence also says three of the convictions were "unsafe and unsatisfactory", particularly
in light of the court martial panel acquitting Jones of five charges relating to two other
alleged incidents.

The appeal will be heard by the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Tribunal in March 2012.

The original court martial decision is also subject to an automatic legal review.

AAP klc/jl/goc/

KEYWORD: LEGAL: JONES

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