General Accused of Sexual Assault Receives Minor Punishment, No Jail

[DonViejo]

Source: New York Times


Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair received a reprimand on Thursday from a military judge, after he pleaded guilty to charges that included mistreating his mistress, adultery and requesting explicit photographs from female Army officers.

He was also ordered to forfeit $5,000 a month in pay for four months, but he was allowed to keep his pension. He will not serve any time in prison.

The sentence, decided by a military judge at Fort Bragg, N.C., was far less than what he had potentially faced when the case began: a possible life sentence on charges of sexually assaulting a female Army captain who had been his lover for three years.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/us/general-sinclair-is-sentenced.html?emc=edit_na_20140320

[atreides1]

1. A military judge made the decision

...and doesn't have to explain his decision to anyone!

So now the US Army has a one star general who is of no use and cannot be trusted to be in command of troops!

[TwilightGardener]

6. His career is over. They should have taken away his pension, at the very least.

That's what would hurt him the most.

[24601]

10. That's not the case here. The judge was bound by the law and terms of the plea bargain

made with the convening authority, the senior commander who authorized the court martial. The primary victim in the case sent a letter introducing political issues to the convening authority. That letter opened the do to the potential of command influence and jeopardized the whole case.

For a retirement the Army will now decide administratively at what grade he last served satisfactorily. My understanding is that it's likely to be Lieutenant Colonel, two grades down.

[Lurks Often]

2. When the prosecution's chief witness lies, it's hard to get a conviction.

and the presiding judge stating that there was political pressure for a conviction didn't help matters.

If Sinclair was indeed guilty of the alleged crimes it would have been nice if he could have been sent to Leavenworth for 20-30 years. If he is getting away with it, it is the fault of the people who screwed up any chance of getting a fair trial.

[valerief]

9. they were probably made an offer they couldn't refuse

[NastyRiffraff]

3. Sigh. He'll do it again

Sexual predators rarely change. And Sinclair just received what he'll likely see as permission, even encouragement to indulge in teh same behavior.

[MADem]

4. Wrong. Time for a civil suit, IMO. nt

[freebrew]

5. And a blanket party...nt

[24601]

11. I really thought DU would be the last place to find an advocate of vigilante "justice".

[freebrew]

12. At least it would be 'some' kind of justice..

and not the laughing stock system in place now.

But you may really need to take a break, not everything said here is serious. I don't always put a smiley on everything I type. And you and I know it would never happen, so why the snotty comeback?

[olddad56]

7. Colonel Nathan R. Jessup should have ordered a code red on this guy.

[underpants]

8. Saw this elsewhere and was a bit shocked

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