Three senior Army officers who confronted fees associated to sexual offenses in separate and unrelated circumstances all obtained reprimands by plea offers inside the previous two months.
The officers have been all lieutenant colonels. One hid cameras in altering rooms utilized by teen women; one other allegedly had intercourse with a trainee and tried to maneuver on one other in a public rest room; and one other commander ceaselessly sexually harassed a subordinate and allegedly struck one other officer.
The outcomes of the circumstances and comparatively mild sentences for the offenses might underscore a broadly held notion within the Army that higher-ranking officers can extra simply navigate the service’s judicial system and usually tend to emerge with their legal information freed from blemishes.
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Reprimands are punitive public censures and among the many least extreme judicial punishments within the navy. Whereas they are often career-killers, reprimands don’t mechanically impression a discharge standing — which means somebody can retire with all their advantages and pay intact, all whereas having a clear legal document so far as the civilian world is anxious.
Lt. Col. Mark Patterson, who was commander of the 941st Navy Police Battalion whereas it was on a mission on the southern U.S. border, was convicted by a navy choose in January — following a plea deal — of 1 specification of assault consummated by a battery, one specification of sexual harassment, and one specification of maltreatment.
It was unclear the precise accusations he pleaded responsible to.
On a number of events between October 2022 and January 2023, Patterson allegedly made quite a few advances on a feminine first lieutenant, in response to his cost sheet.
Patterson informed her he bought an erection when he considered her, and requested she put on a “beer backyard babe” outfit, in response to court docket paperwork. He additionally despatched her “private” photographs of himself, winked at her, touched her shoulders and again, and pressured her to spend time with him, together with inviting her to a resort room and dinner, the paperwork present.
Throughout the identical time-frame, Patterson additionally allegedly made advances on a feminine sergeant underneath his command. Courtroom information say he requested her to rub Icy Scorching ointment on his shoulders and commented that she seemed like his ex-girlfriend, whom he famous died by suicide. As with the officer, Patterson additionally allegedly despatched the sergeant private textual content messages, touched her again and pressured her to spend private time with him, which additionally included an invitation to a resort room and dinner. Finally, he “shamed” her for unfriending him on social media, the paperwork stated.
He additionally informed subordinates that he “is unstoppable and that he has overwhelmed quite a few investigations into allegations made in opposition to him,” and that if he have been ever underneath investigation, he anticipated his subordinates to “deny, deny, deny,” in response to the court docket paperwork.
In an apparently unrelated incident, Patterson struck a captain’s head along with his hand in November 2022. It is unclear what led as much as that confrontation. He additionally allegedly “wrongfully” stored an animal, although it is unclear what sort of animal and what the character of him retaining it was.
Patterson’s lawyer didn’t reply to a request for remark forward of publication.
In the meantime, Lt. Col. Jonny Gonzalez was additionally handed a reprimand as a part of a plea deal in December. He was discovered responsible on one rely of conduct unbecoming an officer. Gonzalez didn’t return a request for remark.
In August 2021, Gonzalez, who was assigned to U.S. Army South, was accused of getting oral intercourse, amongst different sexual acts, with a junior enlisted naval trainee at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, in a public rest room in entrance of a retired noncommissioned officer and “in proximity” of others who entered the lavatory, in response to his cost sheet.
He additionally allegedly kissed one other junior enlisted naval trainee. Gonzalez is within the midst of leaving the Army, in response to a service spokesperson. Nevertheless, he’ll doubtless retire at his present rank and have full entry to advantages, given the sunshine nature of reprimands.
Lastly, Lt. Col. Jacob Sweatland, who previously led California Polytechnic State College’s ROTC program and served as a senior teacher, was arrested in September 2022 after being caught hiding a digicam in a altering room at a PacSun, a clothes retailer predominantly for teenagers and younger adults, in Pismo Seaside, California.
The digicam was found by a 16-year-old lady. When Sweatland referred to as the shop asking whether or not anybody discovered his “key fob,” authorities have been ready for him on the retailer when he got here to retrieve it. Mustang News, a campus information outlet, reported on the time that the digicam contained pictures from quite a few areas, together with different outfitters and a health club.
As a part of a plea deal, he was given a reprimand in January on one specification of indecent visible recording and one specification of conduct unbecoming an officer, in response to a service spokesperson. Sweatland is presently assigned to the eighth Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps Brigade based mostly out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
Native authorities gave the case to the Army, pondering the service might be extra punitive. District Lawyer Dan Dow final 12 months cited restricted legal guidelines to cost Sweatland, in response to reporting from Cal Coast News. It is unclear whether or not Sweatland should register as a intercourse offender.
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