A pair of women testified Wednesday that an Air Force recruiter sexually assaulted them in the back room of his Lake Jackson office after doggedly pursuing them.
Though the incidents occurred separately, both said that Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez followed the same pattern that led to the encounters, which they said they resisted.
He sent a flurry of text messages that initially were flirtatious but turned graphic, both testified. Later, they said Rodriguez locked the door of his recruiting office, put up a "closed" sign before luring each of them to a back room.
"He began to grope me and kiss me and sat me down on the desk and then he began to rub (on her) and from there he kept trying to put his finger inside me," said a woman identified as Victim 9, who is an airman first class.
A jury of eight officers, all men, including two captains and three colonels, heard the women testify most of the morning, with prosecutors and the defense resting their cases. The allegations were among the worst in years for the San Antonio-based Air Force Recruiting Service.
Jurors are expected to weigh evidence involving both women and could hand Rodriguez a life sentence if they find him guilty of rape, aggravated sexual contact, forcible sodomy, assault consummated by battery and indecent exposure. He already pleaded guilty to six charges and 23 specifications of wrongdoing that carry 54 years in prison.
The case is part of a scandal that has become the biggest in Air Force history and continues to grow. So far, 67 recruits and trainees in technical training have been identified by the Air Force as victims in the scandal. The number rose this week from 63, but it wasn't immediately clear why.
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