Cadet gets 9 months for porn business

Over the span of 18 months, cadet Sterling Barnes watched his Internet pornography business, The Denver Horsemen, grow to a moneymaking venture that included pairing at times a dozen men and one woman for sex parties at hotels and venues across the Front Range. These sex parties, Barnes admitted in a military courtroom Wednesday, were often times videotaped or photographed so he could turn around and sell the tapes from his dorm room. It was through this Web-based business that Barnes also solicited for participants and advertised the sale of the tapes. Barnes, 24, was found guilty of using government property for commercial gain and viewing, displaying and storing obscene material with government equipment. He was also found guilty of pandering and conduct that was unbecoming. Advertisement Barnes was sentenced to nine months in military jail. He also was dishonorably discharged. The court-martial will scar his record for life, said Col. Patrick Rosenow, the military judge. People responded to Barnes` ads with such frequency that he was hosting on average two sex parties a month, including two in one day in February when a total of 28 men participated with one woman. Barnes, a Kansas native, planned on expanding his business and starting The Ohio Horsemen at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where he was scheduled to attend as an officer this year. Rosenow told the cadet that in a twisted, ironic way, he showed promising business skills, and that if he were not a member of the military, he could have achieved celebrity status in some circles. But because Barnes was a cadet, Rosenow said, he turned the core values in the military installation "upside down," and for that he should be punished. There was no evidence other cadets were involved, the judge said. Investigators found 12,580 explicit images on his computer and 1,272 movie files, as well as tapes showing Barnes having sex while others watched. Barnes, who waived his right to a jury trial and made a plea deal, could have been sentenced to 14 years, fines and dismissal. Before the judge`s decision, he begged for leniency, asking that he not be dishonorably discharged so he could get his college degree. "I would like to say how sorry I am," Barnes told the judge. "I have no one to blame but myself." Barnes also will be required to pay the government back for his education, the judge ruled. The average education of a cadet cost taxpayers roughly $140,000 a year. It was not decided Wednesday how much Barnes will have to pay back and over what period. Barnes, who had a 3.14 grade point average, was to graduate last May. Instead he was sent home to Kansas while he awaited the results of the investigation.