The Marine accused of getting intercourse with a lacking 14-year-old lady in his barracks room has been charged with three specs of sexual assault, in line with a cost sheet obtained by Navy.com on Tuesday.
The costs allege that the unnamed Marine, a 22-year-old man, assaulted the lady on June 27 at Camp Pendleton, California. Every specification lists a distinct sexual act dedicated “upon a toddler who had attained the age of 12 years however had not attained the age of 16 years,” the doc stated.
A second cost states the Marine violated restrictions by leaving Pendleton grounds on June 27. The restriction itself is “prior and unrelated,” in line with the Marine Corps, however the cost pertains to when the accused Marine and a buddy went to choose up {the teenager} off base — the identical day the alleged assault occurred.
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The revelation of the fees comes a day earlier than the Marine is about to attend a preliminary listening to at Camp Pendleton on Thursday. After the preliminary listening to, the Marine’s command will overview the proof and fees laid out by army prosecutors and determine whether or not it is going to go to court-martial.
The Marine has been in pre-trial confinement since Aug. 1, in line with the cost sheet.
In July, the Naval Prison Investigative Service, or NCIS, regarded into allegations of human trafficking, in line with investigatory paperwork obtained by Navy.com final month. These allegations have been leveled by the sufferer’s household in feedback on social media and to the press.
Investigators didn’t discover proof of human trafficking at the moment and up to now there was no publicly produced proof that implies human trafficking was concerned.
Nevertheless, on Wednesday, NCIS informed Navy.com that it could not remark additional on the investigation when requested whether or not there was suspected human trafficking. NCIS did say, nevertheless, it’s nonetheless working with a California Division of Justice human trafficking process pressure.
“I can affirm that the investigation stays ongoing in partnership with the San Diego Sheriff’s Division and the San Diego Human Trafficking Job Power,” Jeff Houston, a spokesperson for NCIS, informed Navy.com on Wednesday. “Out of respect for the investigative course of, NCIS won’t remark additional whereas the investigation stays ongoing.”
The feminine teen went lacking in June for 2 weeks and, in line with investigative paperwork obtained by Navy.com, the unnamed Marine and a fellow service member left publish June 27 to choose her up.
When the group returned to base that day, personnel on the gate checked the identification solely of the service members, not the lady. The subsequent day, after the alleged assault occurred, the lady was discovered roaming the barracks by two service members, in line with leaked log sheets made public on social media.
A abstract of the preliminary investigation stated that the Marine met {the teenager} on a courting app, on which she misrepresented her age as 22 years outdated. Navy investigators reviewed the Marine’s telephone and located an alternate between him and the teenager wherein she admitted to mendacity about her age, in line with the paperwork.
Initially, {the teenager} informed investigators that no sexual contact had occurred, however the Marine admitted to having intercourse with the lady when questioned. A couple of week later, {the teenager} was interviewed by a legislation enforcement agent specializing in crimes involving kids. At the moment, {the teenager} alleged that she had been offered for intercourse to the Marine.
Final month, the sufferer’s aunt, Casaundra Perez, accused the army of masking up the case and stated that human trafficking was concerned.
In accordance with native San Diego authorities, the sufferer was final seen by her household on June 9 and was reported lacking on June 13. Perez stated on social media final month that the sufferer has studying disabilities and that, between private points affecting the household and mistrust of legislation enforcement from a earlier incident when the kid ran away, they didn’t report her lacking instantly.
— Drew F. Lawrence may be reached at drew.lawrence@army.com. Comply with him on Twitter @df_lawrence.