{"id":107148,"date":"2020-11-11T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=107148"},"modified":"2020-11-10T22:47:58","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T03:47:58","slug":"fired-two-star-research-lab-commander-charged-with-sexual-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=107148","title":{"rendered":"Fired two-star research lab commander charged with sexual assault"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Maj Gen William Cooley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cooley was in charge of the Air Force Research Laboratory. He was removed in January while the OSI investigated a complaint from a civilian regarding sexual assault. OSI has completed their investigation and is proferring three charges for violating Article 120 of the UCMJ (Rape and Sexual Assault).<\/p>\n

The charge and three specifications of violating Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice was preferred against Cooley on Oct. 29 by Lt. Gen. Gene Kirkland, the initial disposition authority in the case, according to a Tuesday release from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Article 120 forbids sexual assault.<\/p>\n

An Article 32 preliminary hearing will convene on Jan. 27, 2021, during which a senior military judge will review the charge against him, the release said.<\/p>\n

If the case proceeds to a court-martial, it would be the first time an Air Force general faced such a trial.<\/p>\n

Cooley is accused of making unwanted sexual advances on a civilian woman, who is not a Defense Department employee, while off-duty in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Aug. 12, 2018.<\/p>\n

According to a charge sheet obtained by Air Force Times, Cooley is accused of kissing the woman on her mouth, without her consent, \u201cwith an intent to gratify his sexual desire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charge sheet also said Cooley is accused of causing her to touch him sexually, through his clothing, and touching her sexually through her clothing, again without her consent.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A former chief prosecutor says that this is virtually unprecedented.<\/p>\n

Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force and the president of the group Protect Our Defenders, which advocates for victims of sexual assault in the military, said that if Cooley goes to court-martial, he will be the first general officer in Air Force history to do so. Christensen said he is also sure that no Air Force general officer in the last three decades \u2014 and possibly ever \u2014 has had charges preferred against him.<\/p>\n

One reason for that, Christensen said, is because other general officers are the ones who decide whether or not to bring charges against their peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is completely unprecedented,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a reflection of the Me Too movement, the pressure the military\u2019s under right now to handle sexual assault, and the realization that they\u2019re under a microscope by Congress to act in these cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as recently as 10 years ago, he said, the Air Force would have simply let general officers quietly retire rather than bring them before a court-martial.<\/p>\n

But if the case does go to court-martial, Christensen said it will become logistically complicated. Cooley would need to be tried by a jury of eight peers \u2014 three- or four-star generals, or two-star generals who have served in that rank longer than Cooley has. And finding such generals who can be impartial, and don\u2019t personally know Cooley or his case, could be tricky, Christensen said.<\/p>\n

The Air Force may have to bring back some retired generals, or bring in general officers from other services, to hear Cooley\u2019s court-martial, if it gets that far, Christensen said.<\/p>\n

It is likely the Air Force will choose a jury from a panel of roughly 16 to 20 generals, Christensen said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More at the source. Source; Air Force Times<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cooley was in charge of the Air Force Research Laboratory. He was removed in January while … Fired two-star research lab commander charged with sexual assault<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[187,185,447],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-force","category-crime","category-dick-stepping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107150,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107148\/revisions\/107150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}