A former deputy commander in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division has been charged with numerous violations of military law, including forcible sodomy, CNN is reporting.
In addition to several other counts, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was charged with “forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct, attempted violation of an order, violations of regulations by wrongfully engaging in inappropriate relationships, and misusing a government travel charge card,” according to Col. Kevin Arata, a spokesman for the Fort Bragg-based 82nd Airborne Division, which has been one of the most celebrated units in the Army since its creation during World War I.
Specifics of the alleged crimes have not been released, and it isn’t known whether or not Sinclair — who, according to an Army spokesman, is still on active duty — has an attorney.
After the allegations against Sinclair surfaced earlier this year, he was sent home to FortBragg in North Carolina from Afghanistan.
He’s scheduled to face an “Article 32” — the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing in which both the prosecutor in the case and the defendant’s lawyer present witnesses and evidence.
At the end of the Article 32 hearing, the “investigating officer,” acting as the judge, will make a recommendation as to whether or not the defendant will face court martial, and that recommendation will go to an “appointing authority,” an officer higher up in the chain of command from the defendant.
A date for Sinclair’s Article 32 hearing hasn’t been set yet, and Army officials noted that few officers of such high rank face court martial.
According to TIME, Sinclair — a paratrooper with 27 years in uniform who has pulled three tours in Afghanistan and a pair in Iraq — faces courts martial on charges of forcible sodomy, sexual misconduct, disobeying an order, possessing alcohol and pornography while deployed, improper use of a government travel charge card, and filing fraudulent claims.
