Air Force Academy graduate charged with rape

[thedrifter]

Air Force Academy graduate charged with rape


Second since sex assault scandal
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:48 a.m., July 16, 2003

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. ? An officer who is a recent graduate of the Air Force Academy has been charged with raping a female cadet at the school, the second rape charge linked to the academy since a sex scandal erupted in February.

2nd Lt. Ronen Segal, who is assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also is charged with sodomy and dereliction of duty in the alleged sexual assault. He faces life in prison if convicted.

He is accused of buying liquor for an underaged female cadet and raping her last August, three months after he graduated from the academy in Colorado Springs. The woman was entering her sophomore year, but withdrew on administrative leave at the Christmas break and has not returned.

Testimony was delayed Tuesday during Segal's military preliminary hearing over questions about the woman's willingness and ability to testify. She is the only witness in the case. The hearing is being held at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs.

Segal's attorney said he was not prepared to cross-examine the woman because she had prematurely terminated a previous interview with him when he questioned her credibility.

Prosecutors said that without the woman's testimony there would not be adequate evidence to continue. They have asked academy officials to grant her immunity from prosecution on issues brought up in her testimony.

The Air Force, Defense Department and an independent task force have been investigating dozens of alleged sexual assaults at the academy since reports surfaced in February that women were ignored when they said they were assaulted. The academy's top commanders have since been replaced.

Earlier this week, sophomore Douglas Meester, 20, asked to be allowed to resign from the Air Force rather than face court-martial and possible life in prison on charges he raped a female cadet in his dorm room after a drinking party in October.





On the Net:

Academy: www.usafa.af.mil


Sempers,

Roger