Army sergeant found guilty of adultery, not rape

[unhappycamper]

Army sergeant found guilty of adultery, not rape
By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, January 26, 2008

DAEGU, South Korea — An Army sergeant was sentenced to loss of rank, restriction to post and hard labor after a court-martial jury found him guilty of adultery with a female private.

But Sgt. Rodrigo Valdiviagonzalez was found not guilty of raping and sodomizing the private and lying about it to investigators.

The soldier, married and a father of two, testified he had consensual sex with the woman in her Camp Walker barracks room in June.

An all-male eight-member jury of officers and senior noncommissioned officers sentenced him to reduction to pay grade E-3 from E-5, 60 days of hard labor and restriction to post.

The verdict came late Thursday night in a court-martial that began that morning before military judge Col. Donna M. Wright.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51914

[DrDan]

1. so I wonder if he faces charges from the South Koreans

Certainly they would have a law against rape. I do not think he would be "untouchable" just because the U.S. Army court martial found him not guilty.

Is the Army Barracks considered U.S. territory, as would an embassy?

[DrDan]

2. btw - thanks for posting these veteran's-related articles

I enjoy reading them - as an ex-U.S.A.F. officer.

[unhappycamper]

3. Thanks Brother.

And 'Welcome home'.

[NavyDavy]

4. so this guy gets a harsher sentence for having consensual sex

with an adult yet the officer who fingered his 14 yo daughter gets off pretty easy....fair? i think not!!! see even in the military there are the haves(officers) and have nots (enlisted) i seen this scenario over and over again while I was in the Navy...

[DrDan]

6. watch HBO's Ghosts of Abu Ghraib for another example

Karpinski seems to have been the only officer reprimanded - and that was a reduction in rank.

Those convicted of crimes were all enlisted.

Seems "oversight" via the chain-of-command is a thing of the past. What is important today is blindly following the wishes of those on top - regardless of the whether legal, moral, or ethical.

[acmavm]

5. Why in the hell would any self-respecting female ever want to

join the 'armed forces' of this pissant country?

[DrDan]

7. gosh - travel the hills of West Virginia . . .

then listen to the shaky promises of hte recruiters.

It is certainly easy for me to understand why anyone, including women, would join the military.

[acmavm]

8. See, it is not for me. You're selling your body and soul into

slavery for a corrupt system that doesn't protect you (if you're a woman) and will use you and throw either your living body or your dead body on the trash heap of corporate crimes.

But then again, I've never been to the hills of West Virginia either.