Chief Master Sergeant sentenced to 20 months for sexual harassment of subordinates

A former Chief Master Sergeant for the US Air Force was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and a dishonorable discharge for having "affairs" with ten subordinates. Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney was convicted of 15 counts after a 5 day court martial. Scott Air Force Base, Ill was the site of the court martial. According to the complaint, the sexual misconduct lasted between 2007 and 2009.

Gurney pleaded guilty to seven charges of dereliction of duty for failing to maintain a professional relationship with seven female subordinates, one violation of wrongful misuse of government property, one violation of indecent conduct with a female master sergeant and four violations of committing adultery with four female subordinates, according to a news release from the 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs team at Scott.

Gurney entered the blind plea because he was“derelict in misusing his position by consensually exchanging explicit pictures with female subordinates and by fondling or kissing them.” He also sexted, kissed, and fondled female subordinates, and had sex with his wife with a married subordinate present.

According to prosecutor Capt. Tania Bryant, “As a chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, it was his responsibility to lead, mentor and guide his enlisted troops,” she said. “How did he do that? He abused his position, marred the reputation of AFMC and blackened the eye of the Air Force.”

Defense attorney Maj. Lance Wood said the misconduct was“almost exclusively about mutual affairs with adult women” and that Gurney took “moral and legal responsibility” for his crimes.

However, prosecuting Maj. Patricia Gruen showed photos of Gurney's penis, a photo he sent to a senior airman. Gruen said that that photo, and not his stripes, “was how Chief Gurney chose to represent himself and the U.S. Air Force..He was out there as one of the Air Force’s very, very, very, very best,” she said. “He was Superman. They were flattered and they couldn’t imagine a command chief paid any attention to them, much less directed attention to their careers. But this Superman charged for his services, and he ultimately charged a price they wouldn’t pay.”

During a speech just before sentencing, Gurney said “I essentially lived a double life in which my actions were not those of a senior leader at a majcom of the Air Force,” Gurney said, crying and pausing several times as he read from a statement. “I am not a bad person. I made some bad decisions. I got caught up in a cycle of sin.”

He also talked about how his two daughters were leery of entering a grocery store because of fear of being recognized. The oldest daughter, just 15, is taunted at school because of her father's actions.

Gurney’s confinement was scheduled to begin Friday night, but his case isn’t over. The convening authority, 18th Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Robert Allardice, will review the sentence and have the final say. And Gurney’s dishonorable discharge and his prison term trigger an automatic appeal to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.

Gurney and lawyers for both sides declined to talk with reporters after sentencing. Air Force Materiel Command spokeswoman JoAnne Rumple released a statement on the case, but it did not say if commander Gen. Donald Hoffman has been following the case or he had any comment.

Michelle Lindo McCluer, the executive director of the National Institute Of Military Justice, said “A dishonorable discharge is the worst kind of punitive punishment you can give at a court-martial.  I’ve seen that given to people convicted of rape and murder and occasionally desertion. To give it in a case like this? That’s definitely sending a message.”

Besides the dishonorable discharge, Gurney was demoted to airman basic and will be stripped of his  $6,215.70 a month  pay and allowances while incarcerated.

Maria Lauterbach's killer sentenced to life without parole

(Originally Posted 1-12-08)

Maria Lauterbach, a 20 year old Marine who was 8 months pregnant, was found murdered yesterday in North Carolina along with her fetus after her disappearance December 19th. She last spoke to her mother December 14th and her car was found a week ago (January 7th). Yesterday, remains of a woman and her fetus were found in the primary suspect's home, that of another Marine she suspected of rape in April last year. The idea that the baby was the rape suspect's is plausible.

The suspect in her murder, Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean 21, was accused of rape by Maria, and she was scheduled to testify against Laurean at a military hearing.

While Maria's mother described her as a liar, her uncle, Peter Steiner, described the pregnancy as due to the alleged rape, and maintained that the Marines did not protect his niece. When her car was found, a military protective order, similar to a restraining order, was found, but civilian officials said they were never notified. The order, which lasted from July to September, stated Laurean could not come within 1000 feet of Maria.

The Jacksonville (NC) Daily News has more.

Civilian investigators have said a military protective order — similar to a restraining order, but authorized by the commanding officer in charge of the Marine being restrained — existed for a pregnant Marine against the Marine accused of killing her, but they were never made aware of it by anyone from Camp Lejeune.

Paul Chiccarelli, special agent in charge of Naval Criminal Investigative Service aboard Camp Lejeune, said the "crucial information that brought the turn in the case came through the base," adding the base had been very cooperative throughout the investigation. Chiccarelli said Laurean was not taken into custody after Lauterbach reported the alleged rape because there were indications that Lauterbach and Laurean carried on "some sort of friendly relationship" after she filed the complaint against him.

Chiccarelli said Laurean had not been considered a flight risk after the Lauterbach disappearance.

Laurean ended up fleeing at around 4AM Friday, and is currently on the run. He is believed to be in either Louisiana or Texas as of 6:30 PM Sunday.

Lauterbach's uncle, Peter Steiner, a psychiatrist who lives in Louisville, Ky., and had been in Jacksonville in the past week looking into his niece's disappearance, said his niece called her uncle's home at least twice a week, because they were very close. "She was a very beautiful, athletic young lady. She volunteered to join the Marine Corps. She was very committed to the Marines, and she is being portrayed in a way that does not look well."

Because of the widespread coverage, Victimized Over The AOC will link to sources which provide more in-depth coverage of this story.

Holly's Fight Against Violence, a Canada-centric blog against violence against women, has this tribute to the young Marine.

The Jacksonville, NC Daily News has this special section related to coverage of her disappearance and murder.

Update (1-15-08): According to the autopsy report, Maria Lauterbach died of blunt trauma to the head, putting to rest all doubt about her murder. There was a note written by Lauren claiming that she committed suicide by slitting her throat. Laurean is said to be in hiding, and not actively on the run.

"It is believed that he has reached a location where his need to move in high speed or long distance no longer exists,” said Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown. A $25,000 reward has been postedfor information leading to Laurean's arrest.

Update (1-18-08): Marine officials did not believe that Lauterbach was the victim of foul play until she was found dead. Mrs. Laurean waited 24 hours before reporting Lauterbach's death to authorities, and an item, believed to be a crowbar, suspected as being the murder weapon, was recovered after being turned in by a witness. Police found Laurean's truck, and are going over evidence inside it.

“We believe that we have an item that may have been used in the murder of Maria Lauterbach,” Sheriff’s Department Capt. Rick Sutherland said. “It is consistent with what the Medical Examiner believes is the cause of death. We have not confirmed what this item is.”

Laurean is now believed to be in Mexico, where he allegedly told fellow Marines and his wife he would flee to if convicted in the rape.

The FBI filed court documents this week stating Laurean told members of his Marine Corps unit he would flee to Mexico if it appeared he would be found guilty of raping Lauterbach. Laurean's wife, Christina Laurean, also told authorities she believed her husband would head to Mexico if he was in legal trouble. Laurean is reported to have mailed letters back to his wife in North Carolina, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The letters had a Houston postmark, the AP reported.

"We strongly suspect, but have not confirmed, that Laurean may be in Mexico," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington. "We have a strong working relationship with law enforcement partners in Mexico, and we're working with them to locate and apprehend him." In addition to the original charges of first-degree murder, bank card theft and obtaining property by false pretense, Laurean has been charged by the FBI with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

(Update 4-11-08)

Laurean has been captured in Morelia, capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan. Besides murder, charges include theft, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and fraud. Police carrying out an anti-kidnapping operation stopped Laurean because he was acting suspicious, and then ran him through a criminal database. It is believe that Laurean used Lauterbach's ATM card to with draw funds for his flight to Mexico, which according to prosecutors occured January 14.

U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement that “Laurean fled to Mexico early this year in the hope of avoiding justice” and called the arrest “a clear message to all would-be fugitives from U.S. law that Mexico will not provide them refuge.”

Prosecutors dropped the death penalty as the maximum sentence to secure Laurean's extradiction.

Phone messages seeking comment left at Lauterbach’s parents’ home in Vandalia, Ohio, with Lauterbach’s uncle Pete Steiner, and with family attorney Chris Conard were not immediately returned late Thursday.

Another family attorney, Merle Wilberding, said Lauterbach’s mother, Mary, received the call from the FBI informing her of the arrest with “shock and surprise.”

“She’s been living with Cpl. Laurean being on the run ... and living without an expectation that he was going to be captured any time soon, so when the word came it really caught her by surprise, and she’s still trying to let it all sink in,” Wilberding told WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio.

(Update 4-20-09) Laurean was formally extradicted back to North Carolina from Mexico last Friday. Earlier today, he was in court for a bond hearing in Onslow County District Court. The hearing, presided over by Judge Paul A. Hardison, enede with Laurean being denied bond. His next court appearence will be May 18. Official charges include 1st degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and numerous theft related charges.

(Update 8-24-10) Laurean was convicted by a jury after three hours of deliberation of bludgeoning Lauterbach to death and immediately sentenced to life without parole. The trial was moved to Wayne County, NC from Onslow County due to pre-trial publicity. Besides the 1st degree murder charge, Laurean was also convicted of theft and fraud by using Lauterbach's ATM card.

During closing arguments, Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee talked about the 4 weeks between when the victim's mother last saw her daughter and when Lauterbach's body was found in a burn pit. “On Jan. 11, 2008, Mary Lauterbach’s nightmare became a reality when her daughter’s body was found buried in the defendant’s backyard,” Lee said. Lee went on to say how Laurean's career was at stake, since sex with a subordinate is a crime in the Marine Corps.  Despite the DNA test showing that Laurean was not the father of Lauterbach's unborn child, “as long as Maria Lauterbach was still out there he could not [be a good Marine].”

Meanwhile, Lauterbach's defense attorney, Dick McNeil, said that his client should not be convicted of 1st degree murder because Laurean's wife, Christina, also had motive. Texts and computer records make no record of Laurean and Lauterbach being in contact between the rape allegation and the murder. Laurean was eventually cleared of that rape allegation.

McNeil painted his client as a panicked Marine who was at home minding his own business when a troubled, distraught woman came to his door in violation of a protective order. McNeil says he questioned Lauterbach’s truthfulness during the trial, not to degrade her reputation, but to show she was depressed and confused.

Before sentencing but after the verdict, Maria Lauterbach told Laurean to look at his mother and think of his daughter. “I feel so sorry for your daughter. She will have to live with the shame that her father is in prison for murdering not one but two people,” she said.
 
McNeil said that he planned to appeal the verdict.

Marine faces charged in abduction, rape of N. Virginia woman

A US Marine has been charged with the rape of two Ballston, VA women who he followed home and assaulted at around 4AM on February 27, 2010. 21 year old Jorge "George" Torrez was charged with acts relating to the gunpoint rape and abduction of two women after they returned home from a meal. According to authorities, after Torrez forced them inside of their house, one of the women called 911 and hung up, leading him to flee with the other woman.

4 hours later, that woman was found in Prince William County VA, close to the edge of Marine Corps Base Quantico. Torrez was stationed in Ft. Myer, near the area of the attack. She had been raped, beaten and choked to within inches of her life before being dumped in the woods. Authorities arrested him within hours of the attack.

Arlington police on Friday [June 25] announced that they have charged Torrez with 14 criminal counts related to the North Wakefield Street attack, including abduction, rape, forcible sodomy, robbery, burglary with intent to commit sexual assault and use of a firearm during a felony.

Torrez was already in jail for a second attack which took place February 10, 2010, when he allegedly attempted to abduct a woman at gunpoint near a local high school, but settled for simply grabbing her purse. That attack led to a composite sketch which led to Torrez.

Arlington County spokeswoman Crystal Nosal, a detective, said "If these two cases are connected, there's obviously a clear escalation within two weeks. Two weeks ago the woman convinced him not to take her, and then he confronts two women and leaves one for dead in Prince William County."

Torrez, who joined the Marine Corps at 18 immediately after graduating from high school in Zion, Ill., served in Okinawa, Japan, for two years before moving to Northern Virginia last year, according to his family. He had a lifelong ambition to join the military, an ambition that solidified after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, his sister said.

Sara Torrez said her brother has been working at the Pentagon and seemed to be enjoying it, their discussions centering on whether he wanted to continue with a career in the Marine Corps or to leave, go to school and return to Illinois.

Torrez is being held in the Arlington County Jail without bond. His next court appearance was scheduled for July 26, but may be sooner in Prince William County officials file their own charges. Prosecutors are considering bringing attempted capital murder charges against Torrez because it appears that parts of the attack occurred in their jurisdiction and the attack included rape.

Ex-soldier sentenced to 11 years to life in rapes of two women

A former soldier whose fellow servicemen are in Iraq will be serving at least 11 years in a Washington state prison for raping two women.  Nathan Ryan Smith, 31, plead guilty in March to 1 count of 2nd degree rape, another count of attempted 2nd degree rape, and 1st degree arson. He was a former cavalry scout for the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Prosecutors said he bound the women and choked them into unconsciousness before sexually assaulting one and attempting to do so to the other on separate occasions in January 2009.

The second woman managed to escape Smith's home despite being bound and gagged and notified police. Smith set fire to his house before fleeing to Texas, where he was later captured. He apologized to the women before being sentencing, saying he hopes the pain he caused them does not endure.

He also apologized to his fellow troops, saying "They're in Iraq right now, which is where I should be."

Wayne Fricke, Smith's defense attorney, requested a minimum of 9 1/4 years, saying that his client served his country honorably before the rapes. Assistant prosecutor Sven Nelson requested 12 1/4 years, saying that shocking one of the victims with a jumper cable connected to car batteries was "off the charts" brutality.

Superior Court Judge James Orlando agreed with the prosecution about the brutality, but not the minimum sentence, saying Smith's conduct exceeded what was necessary to prove rape. "I am still stunned, Mr. Smith, by what you did. You exceeded what a rape is. You are nowhere near deserving of a low-end sentence."

Former Pennsylvania National Guardsman sentenced to prison for assault

By LES STEWART [Lebanon, PA Daily News]

A Pennsylvania National Guardsman was sentenced Wednesday [April 21] to Lebanon County prison for three months to two years for sexually assaulting a woman in a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks in December 2007. He was one of three soldiers charged in the case.

President Judge John C. Tylwalk sentenced 28-year-old Alan W. Ledford Jr. of South Coopersburg on misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and simple assault. Ledford pleaded guilty in February as part of a plea agreement with the office of the Lebanon County District Attorney. In exchange for his guilty plea, a more serious felony charge of sexual assault filed was dismissed.

Sean P. McMenamin, 25, of Pottstown was also scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but his defense attorney is involved in defending another client in a homicide trial in another county this week, Tylwalk said. McMenamin will be sentenced at a later date. Ledford and McMenamin were scheduled to go on trial in February, but both pleaded guilty.

A third defendant in the case, Matthew S. Taggart, 25, of Springfield, Delaware County, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in June to three months to two years in Lebanon County prison for indecent assault and simple assault.

They were charged with sexually assaulting a then-36-year-old Lebanon County woman at a Fort Indiantown Gap barracks on Dec. 15, 2007. On Wednesday, defense attorney Ari Weitzman said alcohol played a role in the events of Dec. 15, 2007. He asked Tylwalk to sentence Ledford to probation.

He said his client was "extremely intoxicated" that night, and Ledford did not plan for the victim to be sexually assaulted by three men. "This happened spontaneously," Weitzman said.

What began as consensual sex between Ledford and the victim in a bathroom utility room in a barracks escalated into the sexual assault of the victim, the defense attorney said. "This is not the way Mr. Ledford typically conducts himself," Weitzman said. Ledford has served in the military for 11 or 12 years and hopes to spend the rest of his life in the service, the defense attorney said. His guilty plea may jeopardize that, he added.

Ledford enlisted in the military at the age of 17 and has served since then, Weitzman said. He has earned the rank of sergeant, he added. He served 14 months in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005, the defense attorney said. At the time of their arrest, McMenamin, Ledford and Taggert were scheduled to be deployed to Iraq but were ordered to remain in the United States to face the criminal charges. None was deployed.

When he was arrested, Ledford was a member of Detachment 1, Company A, 628th Aviation Support Battalion, which is based at the Gap.

On Wednesday, Megan Ryland-Tanner, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said she has been in contact with the military and said she is not sure how Ledford's case will be handled by military authorities. Tanner agreed that alcohol played a role, but said that does not excuse the conduct of the three men.

"These three men engaged in sexual contact with (the victim) without her consent," Tanner said.

The victim said the judgment she used the night of the assault was out of character for her. She had met four men at a Union Township bar and went to the Gap along with two other women. She said she has been undergoing counseling since the sexual assault. "It's something that continues to follow me," she said.

Ledford faced the woman and apologized. "It's something that should have never happened," he said. "I'm truly sorry for that." The judge said the victim had acknowledged she had not shown the best judgment the night of the assault. "But that does not excuse what you did," Tylwalk told Ledford.

In addition to the prison sentence, Ledford was ordered to pay fines of $900.

Soldier charged in murder of wife

An Army soldier was arrested in the murder of his wife in their Clarksville, TN home. Sena Marie Downing, 25, from the Iowa town of Decorah, was found shot to death after her body was discovered by police around 3:17 AM, Tuesday morning. Her husband, a 31 year old Iraq veteran who had been deployed to Iraq twice, was arrested later yesterday after fleeing in his vehicle, with a Kentucky tag and Ft. Campbell decals.

The vehicle turned up in Robertson County where the police also found Jonathan Clyde Downing, 31, hiding in the woods. Police used officers on foot, K-9s and a helicopter in the search.
Police talked with him for a couple of hours before arresting him without incident at around noon.

Clarksville Police spokesman Jim Knoll said officers then transported Downing to the Montgomery County Jail to be booked. Knoll did not know whether Downing had obtained a lawyer.

Downing, who was a Calvary Scout in the Army, is charged with criminal homicide. He's originally from Decorah, IA via Ventura, CA.

Army gets into the sexual assault prevention business

By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writerPosted : Tuesday Sep 9, 2008 19:20:12 EDT

In an effort to force new life into a stagnating sexual assault response program, the Army will go after sexual predators in its ranks by going after its own culture of inaction to stop a rape before it happens.

At a week-long training summit in Alexandria, Va., that began Monday, more than 250 civilians, division level general officers and their sexual assault prevention response officers are huddling with sexual violence experts to hash out a more aggressive approach to ending rape in the Army.

Army Secretary Pete Geren opened the summit by reminding his audience that in 2007 the Army’s incidence of sexual assault was 2.6 per thousand soldiers, the highest of all the services, according to a Defense Department report released earlier this year.

“This is a profound disgrace because we’re a values-based organization,” Geren said, citing the dichotomy of having soldiers like Medal of Honor recipient Spc. Ross McGinnis and Silver Star recipient Pfc. Monica Brown in the same Army with soldiers who would prey on other soldiers.
“Sexual assault is a crime that is repugnant to the core values that define our Army,” Geren said.

“Soldiers who live the Army values must not only never commit the crimes of assault or sexual harassment but must actively work to rid our Army of these crimes. It is a soldier’s duty to protect his fellow soldier from harm — on the battlefield, in the barracks, on-post or off.”

The current Sexual Assault Prevention Response program was established in 2004 and all soldiers receive training in sexual harassment and assault. But the numbers, according to many leaders, remain unacceptably high because leaders have different levels of exposure to the problem and may not even be aware of it.

The Army’s deputy chief of staff G-1, Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, announced the launch of a four-phase, five-year campaign to address the Army’s problem and tasked the group with developing with a set of recommendations and ideas based on the strategy.

Expecting a report by Friday, Rochelle said he wanted to identify a prevention strategy and “leverage Army values to [create a program] that will become a national model for sexual assault prevention.”

A general officer steering committee established in May by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey identified shortfalls in the program and “now it’s time to get ideas from the division level,” said Carolyn Collins, program manager for the Army’s sexual assault and prevention response.

“We’re four years into this program and we’re kind of at a plateau in our reporting. We’re not where we want to be,” she said. “We’re getting out of the risk reduction focus and moving toward prevention, engaging soldiers in this fight. You’re not going to be a passive bystander.”

Questions ramain in Megan Touma's death

Tom Foreman Jr.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)- Even with a suspect in custody, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the death of a pregnant soldier found in a motel bathtub in Fayetteville more than a month ago.

Police have charged Fort Bragg soldier Edgar Patino in the death of Army Spc. Megan L. Touma, but investigators haven't released a cause of death or motive.

Touma was last seen alive not long after she arrived on June 12 at Fort Bragg, home to the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and its Special Operations Command. She was divorced, though authorities have said nothing about the father of her child.

She was temporarily assigned to Fort Bragg's 19th Replacement Company, and would have eventually been assigned to work at a base dental clinic.

Police scheduled an 11 a.m. news conference Wednesday, the same day Patino is scheduled to appear in court.
Patino was arrested without incident at his home Tuesday, said Lt. Lars Paul, a police watch commander. He was being held in the Cumberland County jail without bond.

Sgt. Patino was transferred to Fort Bragg in December 2007, said Bruce Anderson, spokesman with the U.S. Army Europe. Before that, Patino had been assigned as a combat engineer to the 18th Engineer Brigade in Bamberg, Germany, Anderson said.

Touma, 23, was found dead June 21 at a Fayetteville motel after a maintenance supervisor smelled a foul odor coming from a room, which had been protected by a "Do Not Disturb" sign for four days. A dental specialist from Cold Spring, Ky., Touma was seven months pregnant and had recently arrived from a base in Germany.

Authorities have said a soldier studying psychological warfare at Fort Bragg was a person of interest in the case. It wasn't immediately clear if police were referring to Patino.

Police also investigated a letter sent to The Fayetteville Observer from a person who claimed to be a serial killer responsible for Touma's death. The letter featured a circle-and-cross drawing that was the same as one used a generation ago by San Francisco's infamous Zodiac Killer. Authorities said a similar symbol had also been drawn in lipstick on the motel room mirror.
Police have said they believed the letter was written to mislead investigators and the news media.

Touma is among three servicewomen killed in recent months near a North Carolina military base.

Earlier this month, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, 24, was found dead in a wooded area near Camp Lejeune three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment. Her estranged husband, Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, who is stationed at Camp Lejeune, has been charged in her death.

In January, the burned body of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, who was eight months pregnant, was discovered in a shallow grave near Camp Lejeune in the back yard of her former co-worker and a man she accused of rape, Cpl. Cesar Laurean. Laurean fled to Mexico but was arrested April 10. He has been charged with murder and is awaiting extradition.

During a news conference, police said that Patino, who was married, was the father of Touma's unborn baby, and that he was the last person who went into Touma's hotel room while she was alive.

Military women fight rape, sexual harassment

The Associated Press
8:28 AM CDT, July 27, 2008

Sexual assault and harassment involving female military personnel is not a new consequence of war. But the sheer number of women serving today — more than 190,000 so far in Iraq and Afghanistan — is forcing the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs to more aggressively address the issue.

131 attacks reported

In the fiscal year that ended Oct. 1, 131 rapes and assaults were reported in Iraq and Afghanistan among members of the military, said Kaye Whitley, director of the Defense Department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. Comparing that to previous years isn't possible because of changes in the way data was collected, she said.

Barging in

Carolyn Schapper, 35, alleges she was harassed in Iraq by a fellow Army National Guard soldier to the extent that she began changing clothes in the shower for fear he'd barge into her room unannounced — as he already had on several occasions. Schapper, of Washington, said she never filed a formal complaint. If she complained, Schapper figured, she'd be the one moved — not the other soldier.

A matter of trust

When victims do complain, too often the perpetrator is not moved out or punished, said Colleen Mussolino, national commander of the Women Veterans of America. "You have to be able to trust fellow soldiers, and if you can't do that, you're basically on your own. So it's really rough, really rough for them," Mussolino said.

Other problemsDepression, anxiety, problem drinking, sexually transmitted diseases and domestic abuse have been linked to sexual abuse, according to the Miles Foundation, a non-profit group that supports victims of violence associated with the military. Since 2002, the foundation says, it has received more than 1,000 reports of assault and rape in the U.S. Central Command areas of operation, which include Iraq and Afghanistan.

The military acts

After high-profile attacks in Kuwait and Iraq, a confidential component was added to the military's reporting system, so a victim can seek help without necessarily triggering an investigation. This summer, the Pentagon is also is working with the non-profit group Men Can Stop Rape to help teach troops how to identify warning signs of problems around them. In January, the VA opened its 16th inpatient ward specializing in treating victims of military sexual trauma. And in response to complaints that it is too male-focused in its care, the VA is making changes such as adding keyless entry locks on hospital-room doors so women patients feel safer.

The impact

The data that exists — incomplete and not up-to-date — offers no proof that women in the war zones are more vulnerable to sexual assault than other female service members, or American women in general. What is known is that the effects of a military sexual trauma can be long-lasting: The VA still sees veterans who experienced sexual attacks in Vietnam and even World War II.

Missing soldier found - allegedly raped, stabbed by husband

Alicia A. Caldwell

EL PASO, Texas (AP)- A Fort Bliss soldier's husband kicked her in the face, stabbed and raped her before abducting her from her off-post apartment last week and taking her to Nevada, police said Monday.

The soldier, who turned up wounded but alive in El Paso Sunday night, was attacked as she entered her apartment about 5:15 p.m. Thursday, police said in an affidavit charging Clinton W. Lewis, 34, with aggravated kidnapping.

The Associated Press has previously identified the 29-year-old soldier but is no longer naming her because of the sexual assault allegations. The AP does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent.

Lewis turned himself in to El Paso police Sunday night. He is being held in the El Paso County jail on $75,000 bail. Jail records do not show if he has a lawyer, but he was scheduled to arraigned Tuesday.

The police affidavit says Lewis was waiting inside the soldier's apartment and kicked her in the face as she walked through the door. The private first class was stabbed with a kitchen knife, threatened with death, then raped, investigators allege.

Investigators said Lewis then drove the soldier more than 650 miles to Nevada, and apparently boarded an El Paso-bound bus sometime Saturday. Lewis is wanted in Tennessee on a warrant for not paying back child support and has a decade-long criminal history that includes several arrests for assault and domestic assault.

Tammy Skelton, the soldier's sister, said early Monday that Lewis returned to El Paso after seeing news reports of his wife's disappearance.

Delores Pigeon, the women's grandmother, said the soldier called family early Monday to say her husband kidnapped her, drove her to Nevada and then came back to El Paso to turn himself in.
"He took her into Nevada," Pigeon said. "She said she's in shock. She's got two big holes in her legs and she lost of a lot of blood."

Army officials at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, the Fort Bliss hospital, said the soldier had been treated and released.

"I was just so excited last night to her voice," Pigeon said. "She has bumps and bruises all over."
The soldier, a mother of three, was reported missing Friday after failing to show up for work at Fort Bliss. When soldiers from her unit found her apartment locked and no one apparently inside, they called police.

Skelton said police told the family that the apartment was a wreck and blood was found inside.
The woman was planning to leave her husband of two years, Skelton said. The soldier sent her sister a series of text messages saying that Lewis had left and had even sent a picture that looked like it was taken from inside a Greyhound bus.

"She left him an envelope with money and a note telling him to leave and not to come back," Skelton said. "She was so happy, saying he's 400 miles away."

By Wednesday afternoon, Skelton said, her sister believed Lewis was gone for good and started making plans to go back to her apartment and start over without him.

"Hey sis he's gone so when my check comes I'm going to buy a futon," the soldier wrote in the text message Wednesday, Skelton said. "Yeah, he's gone. Had police go with me yesterday, it's all clear."

She was last heard from in a text message at 4:56 p.m.

Skelton said the pair met about six years ago at a Tennessee night club. At first, Lewis seemed charming and fun, but the relationship soon became tumultuous and, Skelton says, abusive.
"He was all charm and fun then I guess," Skelton said. "He's a very likable person. He could walk up to you and you'd think he was the greatest thing since sliced bread."

The pair married about two years ago. Skelton said her sister was often terrified of Lewis but never made any complaints to police.

"She would never tell us the whole story," Skelton said.

Skelton said she constantly urged her sister to leave Lewis.

"He told her that if she ever left him, he'd kill her. If he couldn't have her, no one could," Skelton said. "I've heard him say that myself, several times."

Skelton said her sister joined the Army last year to get away from her husband and start a new life with her children.

The children have been living in Tennessee with the soldier's mother. She planned to moved the children to Texas once she got a place to live on Fort Bliss.

Marine faces murder, arson charges in death of wife, an Army nurse

By KEVIN MAURER, Associated Press Writer

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The husband of an Army nurse who worked in the maternity ward at Fort Bragg's hospital was charged Monday with murder in her death, a day after her body was discovered by authorities.

Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, 23, was also charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the death of his wife, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, of Dubuque, Iowa. Her body was found Sunday, three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment.

In May, Wimunc secured a temporary restraining order against her husband. She told authorities he got drunk and held a loaded handgun to her head and his. At the time of her death, the couple was going through a divorce.

"You start with people who are closest to the spouse and you work your way out from that," Fayetteville Detective Jeff Locklear said of the investigation.

Authorities also charged Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, with first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Both were arrested at Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps base about 130 miles southeast of Fayetteville where they are stationed as combat engineers.

Wimunc's body was found in a wooded area near the southern border of Camp Lejeune late Sunday afternoon, not far from Alden's residence. The body had been there several days and there is evidence she was dead upon arrival, said Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson, who wouldn't elaborate. The men were arrested late Sunday night after police interviewed Alden.

"We were able to corroborate a lot of the things he told us," Locklear said. "We used that information, interviews with witnesses ... to get the arrest warrant."

Both men are currently being held without bond in the Cumberland County jail and are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys. John Wimunc's father declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press, but Alden's mother said her son's only involvement was giving a friend a ride to Fayetteville.

"He had no idea what was going on. He didn't do this," Connie Johnson said in a phone interview from her home in Pequot Lakes, Minn.

Fayetteville police began searching for Wimunc when she didn't show up for work Thursday. Co-workers could not find her at her apartment, but smelled what they suspected was a fire and called police. Once inside, investigators found evidence of arson.

Sgt. Chris Corcione said Monday that investigators found several points where the fire was started, but the blaze was concentrated in the apartment's rear bedroom. While the interior walls of the burned room were black with soot, Corcione said, the fire burned itself out and left behind useable evidence.

Holley Wimunc, 24, was commissioned by the Army Nurse Corps in 2007. Her first duty assignment was at Fort Bragg, where she worked in the mother and baby unit at Womack Army Medical Center.

Corcione said Wimunc was last seen alive the night of July 8, when she went out with friends and used her ATM card. Police believe she was dead when she was taken out of the apartment, but they are not yet sure when her body was taken to Onslow County.

Hudson said an attempt to burn the body set off a brush fire that drew the attention of authorities, and the body was located by Division of Forest Resources personnel. He said detectives likely would never have found her body had it been burned in a brush-free area about 100 feet away.

"It seems that someone tried to torch the body in the shallow grave," Hudson said.

Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, said both suspects are assigned to the division's 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion. John Wimunc has served two tours in Iraq, including that ended in January.

Air Force Colonel acquitted of rape, convicted of other sex crimes

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - As the verdicts were read, a woman who had accused Col. Samuel Lofton of rape darted from the courtroom.

A military jury acquitted the Air Force colonel of rape on Wednesday, but the panel of seven men and two women found him guilty of two counts of indecent assault in cases involving two other women at Sheppard Air Force Base.

Lofton, the former 82nd Training Group commander at the base, also was convicted of two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman for calling a high-ranking enlisted member at her home and for making sexually suggestive comments to her at work.

He faces a maximum prison sentence of five years on each indecent assault count and one year on each conduct unbecoming count. The court could also decide that no punishment is warranted.

Lofton could have been sentenced to life in prison had he been convicted of rape. Jurors in the court-martial deliberated nearly five hours. Their verdict did not have to be unanimous; two-thirds had to agree.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment after the verdict.
Lofton pleaded guilty last week to 17 counts of larceny, being absent without leave nearly a dozen times and two counts of dereliction of duty. The charges could bring an end to his 27-year military career as well as more than 100 years in prison.

Sentencing for all charges was set for Thursday.

Lofton was removed from his post about a year ago as he was being investigated for misusing his government travel card.

Two civilian workers testified that he forcibly kissed them and placed their hands on his genitals. One woman said she was assaulted twice in the fall of 2006, the other twice in the spring of 2007. Neither worked for Lofton but all worked in the same building.

During closing arguments Wednesday, lead defense attorney Maj. Mark Etheridge said the accuser's account of the rape was "ridiculous." The woman had testified that after the attack Lofton asked to keep her pantyhose as a souvenir and that she threw them at him after wiping herself.
"They are the piece of evidence that could corroborate her account and she throws it at him? Are you kidding me?" Etheridge said.

He also reminded jurors about several flirtatious work e-mails she sent to Lofton after the alleged incidents, even after he was removed from his post. An e-mail sent the day after the alleged rape says, "I would be foolish to say I'm not interested in a promotion."

But the military prosecutor, Capt. Brett Landry, told jurors that the woman remained on friendly terms with Lofton because she was afraid of losing her job. He said all of the accusers were credible.

"There is no motivation for these two women to have made up these incidents," Landry said. "There is no overarching conspiracy ... to ruin his life by putting him through this."

Midshipman cleared of rape charges and possible courtmartial

(Original Post 5-21-08)
A midshipman enrolled at the US Naval Academy has been cleared of rape charges by the investigators of his case, but still faces disiplinary procedures, including expulsion from the academy. Mark A. Calvanico, 21, of Secaucus, NJ, faces conduct unbecoming a gentleman charges for the incident which occured at a woman's dorm last fall.

The report, akin to a civilian grand jury recommendation, is "under review," said Judy Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Naval Academy. She said she did not know when Fowler might reach a decision.

Calvanico, who is still enrolled at and attending the Naval Academy, had been accused of raping a female classmate in her room in Bancroft Hall early on Oct. 14. At a hearing last month, the woman testified that Calvanico, whom she had considered dating, had been drinking the night before and came to her room three times in the early-morning hours. On his third visit, she said, he pinned down her arms and raped her.

The investigating officer's report said there was "a lack of physical evidence to support" the woman's allegations of rape, and her roommate's testimony contradicted parts of her story. Forensic examinations of Calvanico's underwear showed evidence of the woman's DNA. No sperm, semen or DNA were found in vaginal swabs or on the woman's shorts, sheets or blankets. Further examination found no vaginal bruising or swelling.

The woman's roommate testified that she saw the pair kissing earlier and heard a discussion of their relationship but no signs of a serious struggle.

"If this case were to proceed to trial, the Government would be faced with putting on a case with almost a complete lack of physical evidence to support the most serious offenses charged," the investigator's report states.

The report recommends that Calvanico face administrative punishment for engaging in consensual sexual relations with the woman in the dorm when her roommate was there, being drunk and disorderly, and sending the woman a digital photograph of his penis at her request. The report, which makes no recommendation on actual punishment, also faults Calvanico for being absent from his place of duty and unlawfully entering the woman's dorm room.

"Despite there being sufficient evidence to go forward with a court-martial for the less serious offenses . . . the seriousness of the offenses does not rise to the level for adjudication at that forum," Clady's report says.

Parents and lawyers for Calvanico hope that the Naval Academy goes along with the recommendations of the report and that he avoids serious consequences.

"I'm hoping, I'm praying that he's fair and takes the report into consideration," said Rosa Calvanico, 47, Mark Calvanico's mother. "It's the truth. Mark really didn't do anything."

Michael Waddington, Mark Calvanico's lawyer, said he was not surprised by the report, which was in line with the hearing last month.

"The ball's in their court right now," Waddington said. "All the family's asking for is for him to get a fair shake."

(Update 6-3-08) After an Article 32 hearing, Calvanico will not face criminal charges, but can still face administrative punishments including a maximum of explusion from the Naval Academy. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler's recommendation echoes an earlier report. Michael Waddington, Calvanico's attorney states his client in participating in summer training.

A Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent testified at Calvanico's Article 32 hearing that DNA from both midshipmen was found on a pair of boxer shorts Calvanico had been wearing that night. However, none of Calvanico's DNA or semen was found in a rape exam of the accuser. Clady concluded that both of those samples support testimony from Calvanico and the alleged victim's roommate "that there was consensual kissing and sexual activity short of sexual intercourse." He said there was "almost complete lack of physical evidence" for the rape charge.

US marine acquitted of rape, guilty of indecent assault

A US Marine has been given a two year prison term, a dishonorable discharge, and reduction of rank to private after being acquitted of more serious rape charges in an attack on a young woman in Hiroshima in October. Lance Corporal Larry Dean, 20, was one of four Marines court-martialed, and the attacks of woman and giels by US Maries are prompting anti-US protests in some Japanese cities.

The military decided to court-martial the men even though Japanese prosecutors dropped the case, reportedly because the alleged victim had changed her story and may have consented to sex with one man.

A court-martial found that Dean was guilty of “wrongful sexual contact and indecent acts” along with violating military orders.But the military judge, Major Charles Hale, found him not guilty on charges of rape and conspiracy to rape, a military statement said.The judge yesterday sentenced Dean to two years confinement and dishonourably discharged him from the military. His rank was reduced to private and he was forced to forfeit pay.

The woman, who was 19 at the time of the incident in October, said the soldiers raped her in a car and then stole her money. But the court-martial also cleared Dean of charges of kidnapping or receiving stolen property.It was the first verdict announced for the four servicemen.

There are 40,000 US troops stationed in Japan, dating back to Japan's surrender in World War 2, when it renounced the right to make war. Japanese leaders have calld for more controls after incidents including the alleged rape of a 14 year old girl and the murder of a cab driver.

The case has automatically been sent to a military appeals court, in line with military procedure. and

Estranged wife shoots husband to death

Stacy Lynn Powell, 40, an US Army soldier who was the wife of a Dixon, MO man, was charged with shooting him to death after visiting her husband. After an argument, Stacy Powell shot her husband, who was in the process of filing divorce papers.

“She came up for a visit — they were in the process of a divorce,” said Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King. Brian Powell was still alive when Pulaski County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene but died after being taken to General Leonard Wood Community Hospital.

Stacy Powell, who reportedly had knife wounds, also was taken to the hospital at Fort Leonard Wood and remains in U.S. Army custody. King said the warrant for Stacy Powell’s arrest has not yet been served, but he anticipates the “outstanding support” of the Army in the case will continue when the warrant is served.

Women veterans suffering from sexual and other trauma

CNN has a story about women veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan, who make up 11% of the veterans in combat. Over one in five of these women have suffered sexual and other trauma, most of which inflicted by male troops who are supposed to support them.

The VA diagnosed 60,000 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Of those, 22 percent of women suffered from "military sexual trauma," which includes sexual harassment or assault, compared with 1 percent of men.

Christensen, who has been diagnosed with PTSD, says she doesn't like leaving her comfort zone. She doesn't drive more than two miles from her home.

"When I get outside my familiar safe territory, I start to feel overwhelmed," Christensen said. "It gets foggy. Not sure where I'm really going. Something comes over me where I don't feel like I have control over it."

"PTSD is actually something that shows up over time, and so the natural recovery process doesn't happen," said Dr. Darrah Westrup, who counsels female veterans at the VA-run Women's Health Clinic in Menlo Park, California.

"So three months out or so, you find yourself still not sleeping, still with nightmares, still having intrusive thoughts," Westrup said.

Westrup says another factor contributing to poor mental health is the high amount of sexual trauma reported by women screened by the Veterans Administration. She says many women have trouble reporting the trauma to their superiors out of fear of retribution.

"When you are in a war zone, your survival depends on people watching your back and on unit cohesion," Westrup said. "The same individuals who attacked you are those who will be protecting you, or you'll be fighting alongside the next day."

Man convicted of assaulting 3 military men, one 14 year old boy - sentenced to life

Oliver Newell, 29, from Colorado Springs, was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of 4 males, three military men and a 14 year old boy. The counts Newell was convicted of included kidnapping, which carries a 48 year maximum sentence, and sexual assault, which results in an indeterminate sentence with a life maximum.

Newell picked up 2 Air Force Academy cadets at a downtown Colorado Springs bar in July 2006, and either drugged or made them drunk. One cadet awoke naked while Newell was performing oral sex; the other man told jurors Newell tried to sodomize him.

The other two victims were made to believe that they were meeting a woman from Live Links, a chat line. One victim, a then 14 year old boy, was taken to Newell’s house September 2006 befor being raped at gunpoint, and a then 26 year old Fort Carson soldier went to Newell’s home Christmas Eve where he got drunk and passed out. He woke of too Newell performing oral sex.

Newell, public defender, Dennis McGuire, said that he will appeal the verdicts. “This is a travesty. It’s difficult for the jury to look solely at each charge without feeling overwhelmed by all of them. He certainly would have had a better shot if it had been three separate trials. Newell will be sentenced February 29th.

(Update 3-1-08)

Newell was sentenced to 178 years to life in prison for the attacks.

“I don’t know where all this started, or how it came about,” said 4th Judicial District Judge J. Patrick Kelly. “But hearing the evidence and observing the victims it was, quite frankly, despicable. ... The effects on these victims won’t go away anytime soon.”

One of the victims attempted suicide and is in a wheelchair.

“This man came to the United States looking for opportunity and instead he preyed on these men and this boy,” said Colorado Springs police detective Adam Romine. “Many lives were ruined because of this man’s actions ... Two men who proudly serve their country were so disgusted and shamed by this, they didn’t want to be here today.” Romine said it would be a travesty if Kelly gave Newell, who came to Colorado Springs from Jamaica, anything less than the maximum.

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Burchell spoke for the victims, none of whom were present Friday. One victim made a brief statement via telephone. “On the outside, the defendant appears calm,” Burchell said. “But on the inside he’s obviously a monster.” She urged Kelly to “keep him out of the community” so he couldn’t victimize anyone else.

Iraq war veteran sentenced to 25 years for prostitute rape

A Kansas soldier who served time in Iraq before being charged then convicted of raping and cutting a prostitute has been sentenced to serve the next quarter-century in prison.

The Kansas City Star has more in the article "Man sentenced to 25 years for sexual assault".

Judge Brian Wimes said James D. Baldwin thought he could get away with attacking such victims because most prostitutes would not complain and no one would believe or care if they did.

“That jury cared and this court cared,” Wimes told him.

A jury convicted Baldwin last year of rape, sodomy and two counts of second-degree assault for the Nov. 1, 2004, assault. He originally was charged with attacks on three women that year. Sexual assault charges involving another prostitute were dropped after she died of a drug overdose. A weapons charge is pending against him related to the third woman.

All three women were attacked by a man in a white van. The trial victim and the woman who died both were picked up at Ninth and Genessee streets, driven elsewhere and assaulted in the van.

Baldwin, who lived in Olathe, KS, was a suspect, and he later went into the Army and fought in Iraq, but was sent directly to the county jail after his arrest. This was made possible when Baldwin's DNA was proven to be a match with DNA found on the jeans of the trial victim. That victim also wrote down his license plate.

On Friday, Baldwin told the judge he was innocent and is a nonviolent person. Several members of his church and his wife testified in his favor. Leonardo Balderes said that Baldwin had been active in church and that he had never seen him drink or curse.

Assistant prosecutor Tricia Lacey countered that court records show Baldwin has a history of consorting with prostitutes and once was robbed by one. When he attacked them, she said, he counted on them not telling or no one caring if they did.

The 39-year-old rape victim told someone a week after her attack because she hoped police would stop the van driver from assaulting others, Lacey said, and the woman has since quit drugs and crime and is a productive citizen.

The sentence is not about the victim’s past choices, Lacey said. “It is about the choice he made.” She asked for a 27-year prison term for Baldwin.

Defense lawyer Molly Hastings asked for a sentence of either probation or 10 years because that would tie into the argument than everyone is redeemable. Judge Wimes, however, said that Baldwin failed to show his dark side. "“You were a predator.”

Soldier charged in Penn. state court for raping another soldier

Jury selection began Monday in the case of a 45 year old man charged with the rape of a 22 year old woman last March.

The Lebanon Daily News, "Gap rape case set for trial this week," has more.

Robert Shackelford Jr. of Dover has been charged with rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault, according to the criminal complaint. The trial will be held in President Judge Robert Eby’s courtroom and is expected to last all week.

Shackelford, a member of the 233rd Quartermaster Company based in Philadelphia, was charged with raping the 22-year-old Wilkes-Barre-area woman in a men’s barracks on March 3 or March 4.

The woman told state police that a male soldier escorted her back to her barracks about 11 p.m. on March 3, when they saw Shackelford standing on a second-floor platform of his barracks smoking a cigarette. The woman said her male escort asked Shackelford for a cigarette, and both of them climbed up a ladder to reach Shackelford.

Both left, but the woman returned after Shackleford asked her to.

The woman told police that she was drinking in the barracks and later blacked out. She told police she remembered being sexually assaulted and waking up later underneath a bunk in the men’s barracks. She told police she believed Shackelford had raped her.

Shackelford told police that the woman was drinking heavily and he found her lying on the floor after he had returned from going to the bathroom. He told police that he did not have any sexual contact with the woman and saw no one else having sex with her, according to the complaint.

Four soldiers told state police and the Army Criminal Investigation DIvision they saw sexual contact between the woman and Shackleford.

(Update 1-11-08) Shackelford was ACQUITTED of the rape and sexual assault charges, but convicted of indecent assault. She left the courtroom in tears, and prosecutors has harsh words for her "colleagues."

Assistant State's Attorney Megan Ryland-Tanner said,"Each and every one of them knew what was going on and did nothing to help her," Ryland-Tanner said.
"Every single one of them betrayed her. These are the people she could potentially go to war with," she added.

Shackleford will still have to register as a sex offender, and may be released from jail because indecent assault carries a 3 to 14 month sentence, and he has been held since April.

Shackelford did not testify. Williams said Shackelford told him during an interview several weeks after the incident that he had tried to have sex with the woman, with her encouragement, but was unable to do so.

[Ryland-Tanner] said Shackelford would be evaluated under Megan's Law to determine whether he should be labeled a sexually violent predator.

Soldier rapist "sentenced" to 60 years (actually 20 years prison and 40 parole)

Army Specialist Menkaura Moss, 22, was sentenced to 60 years in prison, though eligible for parole in 20, for raping two woman and sexually assaulting a 3rd. A fourth victim, Samantha Tejeda, was attacked in her home and struggled with Moss until he was scared off. He took her bank card and used it to pay online bills and for online taxes. The attacks were solved by tracking Tejeda's stolen bank card.

Tejeda said the assault has left her fearful. “I’ll never trust — I’ll always be looking over my shoulder,” she said in court.

The attacks took place between New Years Eve and March. Three attacks took place at Moss' apartment complex, and the final attack plus 2 burglaries took place at a housing area near Ft. Benning, Georgia, where Moss was undergoing training.

All attacks occurred while Moss was looking for something to steal from other apartments. When he found a woman sleeping in the apartment which he burglarized, he pounced. His first attack was on a female Air Force airman on December 31st. He climbed through an open window to steal her purse, then made the woman commit sex acts.

According to the Fayettteville Observer:

The next assault was another of Moss’ neighbors, on Jan. 28. Again, while looking for something to steal, Moss broke into the apartment of an Army wife whose husband was deployed to Iraq. Her door was unlocked, Moss said.

The woman was sleeping on an air mattress in the living room with her 18-month-old daughter. The woman testified that she awoke to find Moss pulling her shirt over her head. She struggled. The child awoke and started crying. The woman said she did what Moss wanted, because she feared for their lives. “I just wanted us to make it through,” she said.

It is the policy of The Fayetteville Observer not to publish the names of victims of sexual assualt.

Moss raped her, forced her to perform sex acts on him and raped her again, she said. During the assault, she said, her crying daughter tried to stay by her.

Eventually, Moss ran out of the house with her purse. The woman said her husband returned from Iraq on 10-day emergency leave. She moved back home to the Midwest.
The attack strained her marriage, she said. On Feb. 22, she said, her husband called from Iraq and accused her of making it up.

Tejeda was attacked by Moss on February 15th. It took 10 days before he struck again. The Observer article reads:

On Feb. 25 at Fort Benning, Moss said, he once again went to a housing area near his barracks to steal. He discovered an unlocked back door, sneaked inside and found a young woman who had gotten up because she heard a noise. The woman, who was from out of town and was visiting her husband, had started dialing 911 on her cell phone when Moss found her. Her husband and his roommates were away at training.

She testified that she screamed and ran to the front door, but Moss grabbed her from behind. She and Moss described an intense struggle. She head-butted him and hit him. He hit her, slammed her head on the floor and choked her. She said she blacked out several times.

Moss said he forced her to perform sex acts and raped her. The woman said she now lives in fear and can’t stand to be by herself; when her husband is away, she goes to public places because she is too frightened to stay home alone.

Her husband, a West Point graduate, put his military career on hold to take care of her after the rape, she said. The couple testified that they were high school sweethearts and virgins when they married.

“We waited until marriage thinking it was something so special, and he took it! He took it!” the husband said.

The man said he still feels guilty because he had accidentally left the back door unlocked earlier that day. Moss told Parrish that he broke into two more unlocked homes at Fort Benning between Feb. 15 and March 16. He stole two laptops, a camera and a digital music player, he said.

Tejeda, Major Sara Root, and the judge, Col. Patrick Parrish, all believed that Moss should be sentenced to life in prison, but plea agreements take priority in the military system, and left Parrish with no choice but to impose the 60 year sentences (Brian's ed. - or 20 years with 40 years parole). Moss was also demoted to private and received a dishonorable discharge, with loss of all pay and benefits.