Clearing the Fog of War

In scandal's wake, Air Force recruiters get a message

SAN ANTONIO — More than a year has passed since Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez got one of the longest prison sentences in the history of the Air Force's training command. Now, his case is being used as a training tool for recruits at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

At the start of a class at the recruiting school, Tech Sgt. Christopher Hilfer, an instructor, put photos of Rodriguez and Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Jacobson, a 21-year-old killed in Iraq, on a screen.

“To me she's a true hero, somebody I think everybody should look up to,” he said. “Does anybody know who the person on the left is?”

“Sgt. Rodriguez?” a student asked.

“You might even have heard about him a little bit,” Hilfer said before detailing the outcome of Rodriguez's trial, where he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for sexual abuse of recruits. “How would you feel if this person had been recruited by this person? It's not acceptable.”

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Ex-soldier guilty in Guard recruiting fraud

SAN ANTONIO — A Texas National Guard soldier is the latest of nearly two dozen people to plead guilty in a nationwide scheme in which tens of millions of dollars were skimmed from a recruiting program.

Former Spc. Christopher Renfro, 26, of Houston pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in Houston. He'd already pleaded guilty to conspiracy and one count of bribery in the same case, and will be sentenced Jan. 9.

Federal prosecutors in Houston and San Antonio have charged 25 people, most of them soldiers, with defrauding the Recruiter Assistance Program. So far, 23 have been convicted, including a former local Marine who rescued American prisoners of war during the Iraq invasion.

Read more here: http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/military/article/Ex-soldier-guilty-in-Guard-recruiting-fraud-5550187.php

Recruiter acquitted of rape, but guilty on lesser charges

An Air Force recruiter was acquitted late Wednesday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in the backroom of his Houston-area office, but jurors found him guilty of a host of charges that could land him in prison the rest of his life.

Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez showed no emotion as the jury president, Col. Marc Stratton, said panelists had found him guilty of aggravated sexual assault, abusive sexual contact, nonforcible sodomy, aggravated sexual contact, wrongful sexual contact and exposure.

He will be sentenced Thursday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

Rodriguez previously pleaded guilty to six charges and 23 specifications of wrongdoing.

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 at Lackland have been identified by the Air Force as victims. Rodriguez was tried at Lackland because the Air Force Recruiting Service is headquartered in San Antonio.

During the trial Wednesday, Maj. Naomi Dennis, the lead defense attorney, sketched a picture of the tall, bespectacled Rodriguez, who was married at the time of the encounters, as a persistent suitor - not a rapist.

“It's not a black-and-white issue. Sex is about reading the gray areas, reading the signs,” she said.

But a prosecutor, Capt. Matthew Neil, reminded jurors that both women resisted Rodriguez, and pointed to Victim 9's efforts to push him away on multiple occasions.

“How many times, how many times, does a woman have to say no?” he said. “How many times does she have to push him away?”

Read more here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Recruiter-acquitted-of-rape-but-guilty-on-lesser-4597217.php

Recruiter marred lives, mom and daughter say

A parade of witnesses told jurors Thursday how a Houston-area Air Force recruiter transformed their lives after pursing liaisons with them, some in the back room of his office.

A mother and her daughter, identified as Victim 15, took the stand and described the damage left by Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez.

“I can't explain how this changed everything,” said the mother, who is not being identified to protect the victim.

Sixteen witnesses appeared, many of them telling a strikingly similar story about Rodriguez, who was found guilty Wednesday of a long list of sexual-misconduct charges. The witnesses testified Thursday in the punishment phase of his trial, which continues Friday.

The women, one who was 16 when she met Rodriguez, initially encountered him at schools, job fairs and his Lake Jackson office. At first he was professional, but Rodriguez later sent flirtatious texts that often evolved into detailed descriptions of his sexual fantasies.

One of them involved a ritual. He'd shutter the blinds of the office, lock the door and hang up a “closed” sign before taking the women to a small back office.

“He would send me sexting messages saying what he would do with me,” a 21-year-old Bay City nursing school student said.

“He asked me my sexual preferences, if I was ever interested in a woman,” said Victim 1, a senior airman.

Whenever he had a chance, Rodriguez tried to bring his fantasies to life. An airman based in California said that one day, he went through his ritual at the office and then hugged and kissed her and asked for sex. The woman said no.

A woman identified as Victim 11 went with him to the back office, where she performed a sex act on him. Later, she couldn't believe what happened.

“I didn't want to be there anymore. I felt regret, shame,” the woman said, adding that after his wife called, she eyed a photo of his children on a desk.

“My gosh,” she said to herself, “what did I just do?”

A jury of eight male officers quietly listened as Victim 15's mother told of how she stumbled over texts and graphic photos of Rodriguez that were on her daughter's cellphone.

Her discovery was made on a Sunday night, Nov. 13, 2011, a critical moment in a case that's among the worst in years for the San Antonio-based Air Force Recruiting Service.

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Two women testify against Air Force recruiter

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.

Read more here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Two-women-testify-against-Air-Force-recruiter-4596425.php

Houston-area recruiter on trial in airman's rape

A non-commissioned officer charged with raping a young applicant in his Lake Jackson office went on trial Thursday in San Antonio.

Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez could get life in prison on eight charges and 32 specifications of misconduct in his trial here at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

The trial was to start Monday, but was delayed.

Rodriguez is accused of trying to develop intimate relationships with 14 women, most of them applicants seeking to join the Air Force. Two victims were recruiter's assistants, airmen who had recently graduated from basic training and doing the job while spending time at home.

The Air Force said the Houston-area recruiter used his position to leverage sexual favors from a woman identified as Female 15, and lied in an official statement.

When questioned about the incident, Rodriguez was asked if he sent the woman photos of himself wearing only underwear.

“No,” he replied.

The charges reflected a pattern of misconduct among basic training instructors at Lackland, 33 of them brought under investigation during the past 18 months for pursing or having intimate relationships with recruits and technical school trainees.

So far, 63 people have been classified by the Air Force as victims, all but a few of them women.

Read more here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Houston-area-recruiter-on-trial-in-airman-s-rape-4582865.php

Woman tells how recruiter forced sex act

A former Angleton woman said Friday that a Houston-area Air Force recruiter forced her to have sex after she tried to stop his advances.

The only witness on the third and final day of a preliminary hearing for Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez, the woman, identified as Female 9, said she and Rodriguez began kissing in his Lake Jackson recruiting office after he locked the door and shut the blinds.

“He was kissing me and walked me back to the (storage) room and told me he wanted to have sex with me, and that wasn't happening,” she testified in the hearing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. “I didn't want him to do that and pushed his hand away.”

Defense lawyer Maj. Will Baber tried to raise doubt about whether his client raped the victim — a charge that carries life in prison.

Lt. Col. Lynn Schmidt, who presided at the hearing, will decide whether to recommend a full trial for Rodriguez.

Rodriguez faces six charges and 35 specifications of misconduct. Prosecutors say he had illicit contact with 18 women and had sex with four in what may be the Air Force Recruiting Service's worst sex scandal ever.

The most serious charges are rape, aggravated sexual assault and forcible sodomy. All three charges involve Female 9, who was one of five alleged victims who agreed to testify in the hearing.

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Woman says recruiter closed blinds, then seduced her

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez had just excused an applicant when a woman entered his Houston-area recruiting office.

“He got up and locked the door and closed the blinds. He came up to me and ... he comes up to me, and then we started kissing.” the woman testified Wednesday at a preliminary hearing for Rodriguez, who's accused of misconduct with 18 women.

Prosecutors have lodged six charges and 35 specifications of misconduct against Rodriguez, 34, who's charged with adultery, forcible sodomy and rape.

The hearing, which started Tuesday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland could lead to a full trial. Rodriguez could receive a life sentence if convicted.

Rodriguez had sex with four of the women, one who was an applicant and another on active duty, according to prosecutors.

The San Antonio-based Air Force Recruiting Service said it may be the worst sex scandal in its history.

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Court told recruiter became a predator

A woman testified Tuesday that a Houston-area Air Force recruiter doggedly pursued her in 2011, when she was a 17-year-old high school senior, sending her lewd text messages and naked photos of himself.

Now in the Navy, she accused Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez, 34, of trying to coax her into a sexual relationship and later told her not to talk with people about it.

“'If anyone found out, you do realize that both of us would get into trouble?'” the woman, identified as Female 15, recalled him saying.

An Air Force investigation began after her mother found the text messages and photos.

Agents tracked down 18 women who claim Rodriguez, a 13-year Air Force veteran, tried to initiate sexual relationships with them.

Eight witnesses took the stand Tuesday in a Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland courtroom for a hearing that could lead to court-martial.

The hearing continues today.

Prosecutors have lodged six charges and 35 specifications of misconduct against Rodriguez, who's accused of adultery, forcible sodomy and rape.

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House panel sets hearings on Lackland scandal

The House Armed Services Committee will hold hearings later this month on a widening sex scandal among Air Force basic instructors and recruits at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

One source familiar with the process said Monday that the House Armed Services Committee chairman, Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, would call hearings on Jan. 23. A spokesman for McKeon, R-Calif., wouldn't confirm the report but did not deny it, noting the committee announces its hearings the week before they occur.

Advocates for military sexual trauma victims and 78 lawmakers on Capitol Hill have demanded hearings on Lackland since the scandal mushroomed last summer amid several Air Force investigations.

So far, 30 instructors at the base, home to Air Force basic training, have fallen under investigation for improper relationships with 56 victims. Last week, Staff Sgt. Christopher Jackson, 29, became the sixth basic training instructor to be convicted of sexual misconduct since April. He was given 100 days in jail, 30 days' hard labor and busted to airman first class. A judge allowed him to remain in the Air Force.

Ten others are headed to court, including Master Sgt. Jamey Crawford, who waived an evidentiary hearing that was to start today, said Brent Boller, a spokesman for Joint Base San Antonio. He could get 22 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge on allegations that include sodomy, giving a false official statement and adultery.

In another case, a hearing begins today for Air Force Tech Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez, a Lake Jackson recruiter facing life on charges of rape and pursing illicit relationships with 18 women.

McKeon's spokesman, Claude Chafin, said details for the congressional hearing were still being ironed out, including how long it might run. He wouldn't say if any of the Lackland victims would testify, only saying, “The witness list is still being looked at.”

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