An Air Force recruiter was sentenced Friday to 27 years in prison and given a dishonorable discharge after he was convicted of sexual misconduct with potential recruits in his office, making it the harshest sentence yet since a sexual-assault scandal blew up at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland last year.
The jury of eight male officers at Lackland threw the book at Tech. Sgt Jaime Rodriguez, administering stern punishment in the case amid complaints that the military has long protected sex offenders while often kicking victims out of the armed services after they report the crimes.
“It's encouraging that finally the punishment fits the crime. It's something we rarely see in military justice,” said Nancy Parrish, founder of the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders. “And we hope it's an indicator that military juries and judges are getting the message, but fundamental reforms are still required to fix the broken justice system.”
The Pentagon reported this spring that an estimated 26,000 troops were sexually assaulted last year, while only 3,374 of the assaults were reported, and less that a tenth of the suspects were convicted.
A San Antonio Express-News investigation in May found half of the convicted offenders were allowed to stay in the military.
Rodriguez's sentence is longer than one given last summer to Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, who is serving 20 years in prison for raping a recruit and having illicit relationships with 10 women in basic training.
Walker was one of more than 30 instructors at Lackland who have been investigated for misconduct with more than 60 victims.
Rodriguez was assigned to a Houston-area office by the San Antonio-based Air Force Recruiting Service.
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