7 from 82nd Airborne charged in gay porn

The paratroopers face courts-martial and other punishment.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Army has charged seven paratroopers from the celebrated 82nd Airborne Division with engaging in sex acts in video shown on a Web site, authorities said Friday.
Three of the soldiers face courts-martial on charges of sodomy, pandering and engaging in sex acts for money, according to a statement released by the military.
Four other soldiers received what the military calls nonjudicial punishments.
The Army has recommended that all be discharged.
The charges do not mention the name of the site, but the division had previously been investigating allegations that soldiers appeared on a gay pornography Web site. A spokesman for the division said Friday's charges were a result of that investigation.
The military-themed Web site did not make any direct reference to the division or Fort Bragg, a sprawling post about 70 miles south of Raleigh.
Only the seven involved
"As far as we're concerned, it's isolated to the unit, and our investigation determined that these seven individuals were the only ones" involved, said 82nd Airborne spokesman Maj. Thomas Earnhardt.
Steve Ralls, a spokesman for a legal group that helps gays and lesbians in the military, said the charges indicate the soldiers' behavior is "a much more serious matter than just their sexual orientation."
Earnhardt said the three soldiers charged under military law had been appointed military attorneys, but he said the lawyers would be unavailable for comment Friday.
The three soldiers who face courts-martial are: Spc. Richard T. Ashley, Pfc. Wesley K. Mitten and Pvt. Kagen B. Mullen. The Army did not release their ages or hometowns, but said all seven paratroopers were members of the 2nd Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.