TX A&M videographer gets 30 days in slammer

[hoosier]

March 11, 2003

Brennan Bice sentenced to 5 years probation, month in jail

By JOHN LeBAS
Eagle Staff Writer

Brennan Bice, a one-time Texas A&M University student who admitted to videotaping and showcasing a sexual encounter with his girlfriend without her knowledge, was sentenced Monday to five years’ probation and a month in jail.

Bice is also required to take out a half-page advertisement in the Texas A&M newspaper apologizing to his former girlfriend, who addressed him in court.

“You violated me in ways I don’t think you’ll ever understand,” the victim, a Texas A&M freshman, told Bice during an emotional sentencing hearing at the Brazos County Courthouse.

The Eagle does not name victims of sex-related offenses for privacy reasons.

Bice, 21, was charged under a little-known law that makes it a felony to videotape or photograph someone without their consent if the images are intended for arousal or sexual gratification.

Police said he videotaped consensual sex with his unknowing girlfriend on Oct. 8 and showed the footage to as many as 15 fraternity brothers. 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.

Bice, who was suspended from A&M and now attends Blinn College, was taken into custody after the hearing 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.

However, Bice’s record will always show that he was arrested and served probation. He has no prior felony convictions.

“This is a real good kid who’s not been in any serious trouble in his life,” Bryan said after the hearing. “He did not know this law was in existence. Frankly, I never heard of the law either until this case.”

Bice’s crime does not require him to register with the state as a sex offender, said Shane Phelps, the Brazos County assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case.

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.

As Davis admonished Bice, the victim’s father broke down in sobs and quickly left the courtroom. Seconds later, Bice’s mother also began crying.

The victim, though, stayed steady while delivering a prepared statement to Bice after the sentencing. She said she was afraid to even be on campus the past five months because she didn’t know who had seen the tape.

“My freshman year of college has been a relentless nightmare,” she said.

She said pressing charges was not an easy decision, but she did so to make sure Bice never hurt anyone else.

In Bice’s advertisement, which is set to run in the March 17 edition of The Battalion student newspaper, he apologizes to the woman and her family. He also states that he did not know about the videotaping law.

But 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.