{"id":117395,"date":"2021-09-11T15:18:19","date_gmt":"2021-09-11T19:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=117395"},"modified":"2021-09-11T15:18:19","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T19:18:19","slug":"former-naval-aviator-lt-comm-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-child-sex-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=117395","title":{"rendered":"Former Naval Aviator, Lt. Comm sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Ronald Zenga<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Retired US Navy Lieutenant Commander Ronald Zenga has been sentenced to life in prison. He was sexually assaulting a “family member” and bragged about it online, which is how this monster got caught.<\/p>\n

ChipNASA sends this Law and Crime article<\/a>;<\/p>\n

A former Navy commander who prosecutors say sexually abused a family member and \u201cinvited strangers to join\u201d has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, the Department of Justice announced on Friday.<\/p>\n

The case of former Lt. Commander Ronald W. Zenga, a 45-year-old pilot who pleaded guilty two years ago to coercing of minor and child pornography, represented what federal prosecutors called \u201cone of the most heinous crimes ever prosecuted\u201d in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe abused the most sacred trust a human being can be given, responsibility for the health and well-being of another living soul,\u201d Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams wrote in a sentencing memo on Wednesday. \u201cInstead of using the many gifts, opportunities, training and experience he was blessed with to nurture and protect, he chose to de-humanize and abuse that life in furtherance of his own perverted sexual deviancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Millhollin, the Special Agent in Charge for the Homeland Security Investigations\u2019 Boston Field Office, echoed that sentiment in a statement denouncing Zenga\u2019s \u201caudacity to brag about his exploits online\u2014hubris which ultimately led to his arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abuse and exploitation of children is deeply cruel, violating the trust and safety of victims and generating trauma that may never fully heal,\u201d Millhollin said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say that Zenga\u2019s case illustrates the nexus between consuming images depicting the sexual abuse of children and participating in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe abused his victim for nearly all her life,\u201d his sentencing memo states. \u201cHis conduct exemplifies the horrific intersection of child sexual abuse and child pornography.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Rhode Island-based TV station WPRI, U.S. District Judge John McConnell easily determined that Zenga should spend the rest of his life behind bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crime you committed requires the utmost punishment,\u201d McConnell reportedly said at Zenga\u2019s sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n

In 2018, a Homeland Security agent said he saw Zenga using a Proton Mail address on a social media app. The agent said that Zenga admitted in an interview that year that the \u201csexual abuse began when he was in the U.S. Navy stationed in Guam,\u201d according to an affidavit.<\/p>\n

\u201cZenga described himself as a \u2018Monster,’\u201d the agent\u2019s affidavit states.<\/p>\n

The former Naval War College faculty member pleaded guilty last November. Court documents shield the identity of the family member he abused, who was quoted delivering a statement at Zenga\u2019s sentencing through the prosecutor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most painful part of trauma is knowing that someone has wronged you,\u201d the victim reportedly said.<\/p>\n

Zenga claimed to be a victim of childhood sexual abuse himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cZenga\u2019s personal history and characteristics render his crimes all the more inexplicable,\u201d his prosecutor wrote in a sentencing brief. \u201cWhile he claims to have suffered an incident of abuse as a child (and the government has no evidence to dispute it), in many respects he has enjoyed a life far more privileged than most people, let alone criminal defendants. He was raised in a loving family. He is well educated. He traveled the world. He had a successful and rewarding career in the United States Navy, including as a commissioned officer. Most importantly, he had a loving wife and daughter. And yet despite these privileges, he chose to spend his life destroying the people closest to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prosecutor said that Zenga\u2019s case also illustrates a broader scourge of child pornography.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 2018 Study published by ECPAT International and Interpol noted there are more than 1 million media files of child sexual exploitation and abuse materials in the International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) Database,\u201d the sentencing memo states. \u201cAlmost 50% of the files portray child victims that have been identified by law enforcement, while the remainder depict unidentified children. Over 60% of the unidentified victims are prepubescent. [\u2026] The study found a link between the age of the child on and the severity of the abuse. When victims were younger, the abuse was more severe.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was also true for Zenga, the prosecutor said, adding that his collection included \u201cprepubescent victims\u201d and his \u201cown hands-on conduct.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other articles note that he was on active duty at the time many of his crimes occurred and after he retired in 2017.<\/p>\n

Adios, Motherfucker.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retired US Navy Lieutenant Commander Ronald Zenga has been sentenced to life in prison. He was … Former Naval Aviator, Lt. Comm sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[185,179,406,119,226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-death-penalty","category-guest-link","category-navy","category-veterans-in-the-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117395"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117397,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117395\/revisions\/117397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}