4 troopers have been charged in an alleged sexual assault that passed off within the barracks at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state final yr, a spokesperson for the Army Workplace of Particular Trial Counsel confirmed to Army.com on Thursday.
Cpl. Pedro Angel Ruiz, Pvt. 2nd Class Deron J. Gordon, Spc. Jadon Bosarge and Pfc. Kallon Curiel are accused in a sexual assault of 1 person who occurred Oct. 27, 2024, Michelle McCaskill, the spokesperson for the particular trial counsel, stated in an e-mail.
“The fees are allegations and CPL Angel Ruiz, PV2 Gordon, SPC Bosarge and PFC Curiel are presumed harmless until confirmed responsible,” she added.
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No different particulars in regards to the alleged assault, together with the troopers’ relationship with the sufferer and whether or not the sufferer was additionally within the army, have been instantly accessible.
The fees have been first reported by Stars and Stripes.
The 4 circumstances are at “varied levels” of the authorized course of, McCaskill stated.
Gordon has already pleaded responsible, in line with the Army’s on-line docket for courts-martial. He was charged with 12 counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual misconduct, two counts of try, one depend of conspiracy, and one depend of obstructing justice, in line with the docket.
Angel Ruiz has been charged with one depend of sexual misconduct, two counts of try, one depend of conspiracy, and one depend of obstruction, in line with the docket. An arraignment was held Aug. 5, with one other preliminary listening to scheduled for Sept. 26 and a trial scheduled for Nov. 3.
Curiel is going through expenses of 1 depend of sexual assault and one depend of sexual assault of a kid, in line with the docket. His Article 32 preliminary listening to, basically a grand jury listening to to find out whether or not there may be sufficient proof to maneuver to trial, is scheduled for Friday.
A docket entry for Bosarge has not but been posted on-line.
The Army’s Workplace of Particular Trial Counsel, together with different companies’ particular trial counsel workplaces, have been established in late 2023 to deal with prosecutions of great crimes similar to sexual assault, homicide and kidnapping. Congress mandated the workplaces as a part of its efforts to eradicate sexual assault within the army.
The Pentagon’s most up-to-date report on sexual assault within the army, launched in Might, discovered that the variety of reported sexual assaults final yr dropped for the second yr in a row. General, reported sexual assaults dropped practically 4% in 2024 in comparison with 2023, fueled by a 13% lower in reported assaults within the Army.
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