A military judge Wednesday found an Air Force instructor guilty of having sex with a recruit he was charged with training, but ruled that Senior Airman Christopher Oliver did not use force — sparing him a possible life sentence.
Reading a lengthy list of charges, Col. Donald Eller found Oliver not guilty of forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual contact, as well as obstructing justice. But he decided Oliver was guilty of consensual sodomy and wrongful sexual contact, offenses that carried far lighter sentences.
Oliver could get more than 23 years in prison on the charges, plus two lesser charges and six specifications that he pleaded guilty to on Monday. But judges and juries typically have given lighter sentences in a scandal that has ensnared 33 instructors at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland who've fallen under investigation for illicit relationships with 67 recruits and technical school trainees.
Standing at attention, Oliver faced the judge as the verdict was handed down while his family sat a few feet behind him, their faces grim.
When the judge asked questions, Oliver replied in a voice barely above a whisper.
While Eller threw out charges that could have resulted in a much longer prison sentence, Oliver still could be branded a sex offender after being found guilty of wrongful sexual contact.
Prosecutors had worked to convince Col. Donald Eller Jr. that Oliver used his position and authority to force a recruit to have sexual contact with him up to a dozen times through most of basic training.
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