SAN ANTONIO -- A judge sentenced a former San Antonio police officer to two years in state jail Tuesday for secretly videotaping his daughter having sex with her boyfriend over a two-year period.

Despite five character witnesses, including the defendant's wife and former co-workers who described him as a decent man, James Bell was issued the maximum punishment allowed on charges of improper photography and visual recording, a fairly new law in Texas.

Prosecutors compared Bell, who was found guilty Friday, to a dirty old man, who deserved time behind bars for committing a crime for his own sexual gratification.

"It was calculated, it was premeditated and he couldn't stop," said prosecutor Susan Skinner. "It was a very evil thing to do."

But defense attorney John Raba argued his client deserved probation, saying he committed an error in judgment.

"He didn't murder anybody," Raba said. "He didn't sell drugs to children. He didn't beat anyone. In the course and scope of human events people make mistakes."

Skinner said had the law allowed for more jail time, she would have pushed for a longer jail term.

Bell said he planted a camera in a TV in his daughter's bedroom because he suspected she and her boyfriend were using and dealing drugs.