Webster Smith's Progeny

Two AFA cadets charged in sexual misconduct cases

Military prosecutors charged two Air Force Academy juniors in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct dating to 2009.
The cadets’ names were not released — an unusual step coming in the wake of three other sexual misconduct cases announced in January at the academy, said John Van Winkle, an academy spokesman.
He said the names would be released at upcoming court proceedings.
 The names were released on 25 September. The Air Force Academy has identified two cadets charged with sexual misconduct as Jamil D. Cooks and Anthony D. Daniels Jr., both juniors.
Cadet Cooks faces charges of attempted sodomy, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual contact. Daniels faces charges of sodomy, attempted sodomy and aggravated sexual contact.
Both cadets face Article 32 Hearings to determine whether they should go before a court-martial. An Article 32 Hearing is similar to a Grand Jury Proceeding in a civilian criminal investigation. The purpose is to determine if there is probable cause to convene a Court-martial. The Article 32hearings have not been scheduled.
Air Force Academy officials first declined to release the cadets' names until the Article 32 Hearings, but they they reconsidered after media requests.
In one case, prosecutors accused a cadet of attempted sodomy, aggravated sexual assault and two counts of aggravated sexual contact.
The first incident happened sometime between Sept. 1, 2009 and Nov. 1, 2009, when prosecutors say the cadet allegedly had sex with a woman while she was “substantially incapaciated” — a term normally associated with drunkenness.
The cadet also is suspected trying to force another cadet to commit sodomy sometime between from May 1, 2011 and June 1, 2011, according to a charge sheet. During that same period, prosecutors suspect he inappropriately touched a female cadet and made a female cadet touch his crotch — both times while threatening bodily harm, the charge sheet said.
Van Winkle withheld the second cadet’s charge sheet, noting the cadet’s name had not been redacted.
He relayed details of those charges — sodomy, attempted sodomy and aggravated sexual contact — in an email.
Prosecutors allege the cadet tried to make another cadet commit sodomy sometime between Aug. 1, 2009 and Sept. 30, 2009 at the academy’s preperatory school, he said.
The cadet also is accused of restraining a cadet in November and inappropriately touching her. That same month, prosecutors allege he forced a cadet to commit sodomy.
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The charges come about eight months after three other cadets were accused of sexual misconduct.
One cadet, Stephan H. Claxton, was sentenced to six months confinement and dismissal from the academy after being found guilty of placing a woman’s hand on his crotch in March 2011 and partially undressing a woman in November as she lay passed out after a night of drinking.
A jury dropped a third set of charges against Claxton stemming from an incident in May 2011.
Charges were dropped against another cadet, Kyle A. Cressy, after an investigating officer found the amount of alcohol a woman drank cast doubt on claims she never consented to having sex with Cressy.
The officer pointed to expert testimony that a person can suffer an alcohol-induced blackout after consenting to sex, the academy said. The officer also referenced the woman’s ability to compose and send a text message that night as reason for dropping charges.
The third cadet, Robert M. Evenson Jr., is scheduled for court-martial on Oct. 3 to face accusations he used his position with the academy’s honor system to foster a sexual relationship with another cadet.
In those three cases, academy officials released the names of the accused cadets and the charge sheets the day that the cases were made public.
 (JAKOB RODGERS
jakob.rodgers@gazette.com)