Lieutenant Commander John Alan Jones, a naval officer found guilty by a military court martial of spanking a young female sailor, is appealing his conviction.

Jones, 58, was found guilty last week by a court martial of seven acts of indecency over acts of sexual abuse that occurred throughout 2010. He was sentenced to spend 18 months in prison, and he is now being detained at the Holsworthy Army Base in Sydney, ABC reported.

He was also demoted from the rank of lieutenant commander and fined $2000 for trying to destroy a laptop issued by the Defence.

His lawyers have lodged an appeal which will be heard by the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Tribunal in March.

Many of the sexually abusive incidents involved Jones spanking the young woman in his cabin on a Navy ship and at the victim's home in Western Australia.

The acts included four occasions when he smacked the lady sailor, and others when he told her to take off her pants, pulled down her underwear, made her lift up her top, and touched her bottom, the Herald Sun reported.

In their appeal lodged on Monday, Jones's lawyers argue that a secret iPhone video, in which he was discussing the spankings with the junior sailor, should not have been allowed as evidence.