A colonel who once headed the US Army's strategic war gaming division sobbed and apologized Wednesday before being sentenced to 12 years for receiving and distributing child pornography. Col. Robert Rice, 59, told a federal judge in Harrisburg, Pa., that he was deeply ashamed and acknowledged that the victims of child pornography may never heal, the AP reports. "When this began I didn't see the human beings," Rice said. "I came to realize that this is not a victimless crime. That each time an image is passed it renews the ... emotional damage." He said he was "so sorry and ashamed for what I did to continue that cycle." Rice, who has spent 37 years in the military, was most recently assigned to the US Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership in Carlisle, Pa.
The sentence was made concurrent with a four-year term he received in October after pleading guilty to three pornography counts during a military court-martial. Those findings and sentence are under review by an Army general. In the federal case, Rice was convicted by a jury, and Assistant US Attorney James Clancy said his actions during the investigation and trial were calculated. "The severity of this kind of crime cannot be overstated," Clancy said. Clancy said that Rice wore his full dress uniform, bedecked in medals, every day of his trial. Rice also blamed his estranged wife for his own conduct, which Clancy said subjected her "to an extended period of humiliation." Rice was also fined $5,100 and will have to spend 10 years under supervision upon release. (More child sexual abuse material stories.)
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