A Travesty Of Justice: Collateral Charges In Military Sexual Assault Cases

Article here. Excerpt:

'In case after case, we are seeing collateral charges being “stacked” on top of sexual misconduct charges to ensure that the accused is found guilty of “something.” The attitude seems to be, “if we can’t get you for rape, we’ll get you for not turning in that old pair of boots six years ago.”

In order to bolster the charges, investigators contact women who had a prior relationship with the accused and implore them to get a “rapist off the streets.” These women include former wives, girlfriends, or any other female with whom the accused service member had an intimate relationship. This practice has been documented in recent Army cases involving Sergeant First Class Kelly Stewart, Major Christian “Kit” Martin, Major Eric Burris, and Air Forces cases involving Master Sergeant Michael Silva and Major Michael Turpiano.

Military investigators are known to incentivize these “victims” with the prospect of receiving transitional compensation payments. The women may be advised of the possibility of receiving Veterans Administration disability payments based on claims of PTSD as a result of Military Sexual Trauma. In many cases, the alleged incident occurred many years previously and there is no corroborative evidence of misconduct. Nonetheless, benefits may be conferred following a diagnosis of PTSD due to Military Sexual Trauma based on the existence of depression, marital problems, or other life disruption.

Now a male service member who is accused of any type of sexual misconduct, whether it be assault, harassment, or “unwanted sexual contact,” will also face collateral charges. These charges involve previously ignored or unenforced violations, minor peccadilloes, or violations that arose during the course of the inquiry. In the end, there is a near-certainty that the accused will be convicted of something. This allows the Defense Secretary to proclaim to members of Congress that the military is in fact obtaining “convictions” in military sexual assault cases.