This first-of-its-kind analysis by propublica and TexasTribune reveals that, on average, soldiers had to face at least eight counts of sex offenses before being confined.
The analysis by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found that the Army has used pretrial confinement in about 1 in every 10 cases handled by the branch’s highest trial courts over the last decade.U.S. Army soldiers accused of sexual assault are less than half as likely to be detained ahead of trial than those accused of offenses like drug use and distribution, disobeying an officer or burglary, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
Dating to the days of George Washington, the military justice system initially handled only offenses like desertion or dereliction of duty as a way of helping commanders keep their fighting forces in line. As the system evolved, it began handling a broader slate of crimes that gave commanders extraordinary discretion over cases such as sexual assault and murder.
At Fort Huachuca, Arizona, a 19-year-old private named Olivia Ochoa was placed in pretrial confinement for more than three months for using drugs and mouthing off to her superiors, while Fort Bliss commanders opted against detaining a staff sergeant named Randall S. Hughes, who was accused of raping the wife of a soldier in his command at a Super Bowl party in 2017.
In another Fort Bliss case, commanders waited until Christian Alvarado, a private first class, was accused of sexually assaulting five women before placing him in pretrial confinement. In the same interrogation, Alvarado acknowledged having sex with another woman while she was intoxicated. He said it was wrong but would not agree to a sworn statement about the second assault allegation because he believed it would just be “icing on the cake.”
“I would have felt comfortable charging at that point,” said Penny Hamilton, who led the Rape and Child Abuse Unit at the district attorney’s office and later served as an El Paso County magistrate judge.
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