Army drill sergeant sexually assaulted female soldiers, court finds
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Version 0 of 1. A soldier who had served as a drill sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., was convicted Wednesday of numerous counts of sexual assault and other crimes for his mistreatment of women in the Army, authorities said. Staff Sgt. Angel M. Sanchez, was convicted during a general court-martial of 18 specifications that also included abusive sexual contact, maltreatment and disobeying a general order and Army regulation, Army officials said. He was sentenced to 20 years confinement, reduced in rank to a private, stripped of all pay and allowances and will receive a dishonorable discharge. Sanchez’s case, covered by The Washington Post in May, received scrutiny because of its singular nature: Sanchez was alleged to have assaulted a dozen women and used his position of power as a drill sergeant to threaten some of his victims at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Army officials said. “I’m sorry I betrayed your trust, all of you,” Sanchez said after being found guilty, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I accept responsibility for my actions, I pray that all of you realize that person who went through that stretch is not actually me.” Sanchez’s victims said the incidents took place in the women’s barracks and an office shared by drill sergeants at Fort Leonard Wood. Other accusations were brought by a female soldier he served with in Afghanistan and a woman at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Sanchez’s court-martial hearing began Monday, and he pleaded guilty to three charges of disobeying orders by having sexual conduct with three female trainees. His lawyer, Ernesto Gapasin, questioned the credibility of Sanchez’s accusers, but he ultimately was convicted of numerous charges, including four counts of sexual assault and six counts of abusive sexual contact. He was not convicted in the case that originated in Afghanistan. The situation has led to morale problems in Sanchez’s unit, the 14th Military Police Brigade, soldiers testified. Trainees question the orders they are given, they said, something that is highly uncommon in basic training. The Post-Dispatch also reported that one of the victims testified that her unit had been told not to report any more sexual assaults. If true, that would have occurred during a push at the Pentagon to make rank-and-file service members more willing to bring sexual assault to the attention of superiors. The number of troops reporting being sexually assaulted has jumped 50 percent in a year, defense officials said in May. Pentagon officials said that showed service members were more willing to report problems after the Defense Department mounted a campaign to stop sexual assaults in the ranks. |