Joshua Prescott, former command sergeant major of 1st Battalion, 223d Aviation Regiment, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison and reduction to the rank of private on Monday for pleading guilty to indecent recordings. (Kelly Morris/U.S. Army)
A noncommissioned officer in the Army who used a hidden camera in the bathroom to film guests at his Alabama home will serve prison time, a military judge ruled.
Command Sgt. Maj. Joshua Prescott, 42, was given a sentence of four years and six months as well as a reduction in rank to private during a court-martial at Fort Rucker on Monday, the Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a statement Wednesday.
He had been the senior enlisted leader of the 1st Battalion, 223rd Aviation Regiment at the post but was suspended after his arrest in July 2024.
The battalion primarily trains pilots to fly the CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, according to the service.
“It is unfortunate that the victims had some of their most private moments video recorded without their consent,” prosecutor Maj. Morghan Beaudoin said, adding that one of them was a girl.
Prescott was originally charged with production and attempted production of child sexual abuse material, along with a spate of indecent recording offenses, but those charges were dismissed under a plea agreement.
Prosecutors were limited in the charges they could pursue because of statute of limitations constraints, the statement said.
An investigation began after authorities in Enterprise received reports that Prescott had been secretly recording female guests in his home, the statement said.
Local police and the Army Criminal Investigation Division learned that Prescott had amassed hundreds of videos over a 14-year period.
Prescott previously served as an operations sergeant major at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia and had served at Fort Carson, Colo., and Fort Bliss, Texas.
The recordings investigators found included cellphone footage of a woman showering that was captured while he was stationed in Colorado, authorities said.
