Young love has been the downfall of many men and just because you put on the uniform, it doesn’t make one immune from the effects of eros. Combine that with the fact that some men have a natural attraction for crazy and things gets complicated real quick. So it was for a young cadet at West Point and while we were able to keep him out of prison, his newfound military career will never be the same.
The new Second Lieutenant’s troubles started when he engaged in an ill-advised relationship with a fellow cadet that he met on Tinder in 2018. The relationship kicked off during West Point’s Ring Weekend and it didn’t take long for the crazy to come out in force. The fellow cadet would demonstrate highly erratic behavior that would include absurd emotional demands of our client and persistent hot and cold irritable behavior towards our client.
Our client realized that this relationship was a one train to crazy town and subsequently broke it off. However, the cadet continued to be involved in the 2nd Lieutenant’s life as he couldn’t quite sever the relationship for good. They would continue to reconnect under emotionally charged circumstances that would include claims of being suicidal by the other cadet.
The toxic relationship came to a boiling point in January of 2020 when the female cadet accused another cadet of sexual assault during the 500th Night Dance at West Point. Our client rushed by her side and assisted her during the aftermath which included helping her with visits to the MP station and hospital. The relationship was toxic, but it was clear that indeed cared for the cadet in some manner.
Just when you thought the relationship couldn’t get any more tumultuous, the 2020 incident led the cadet to become all too familiar with the military’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program. Armed with this knowledge, the cadet was about to elevate the relationship to batshit crazy. She was hell on wheels for our client with unreasonable demands, false accusations and eventually, she filed a SHARP complaint against our client after all he had done to help her.
That’s when our client reached out to us and brought us up to speed on the Jerry Springer episode that was their relationship. It was clear that the female cadet came with a history of manipulation and her willingness to manipulate SHARP to settle personal vendettas was palpable. However, our client had gotten himself into a complex relationship as an officer that he should not have found himself in. The mission became that of saving this young man from the worst possible outcome.
Through skillful negotiation and presenting the mitigation factors around the female cadet’s behavior, sex assault defense attorney Bilecki was able to prevent the charges from escalating into a court martial. The preferred path was to resolve the matter at the level of a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR). Granted, it is not common for an officer to face a GOMOR so early in his career, but a court martial could have resulted in devastating consequences.
At the end of the day and despite detailed rebuttal materials put together by Bilecki, the GOMOR was permanently filed in our client’s ervice record. The goal would have been to have it revoked as opposed to permanently, but keeping our client out of military prison would have to suffice for the win. A final word of warning to service members who are sexually aroused by crazy, sometimes the crazy wins. In the era of SHARP, crazy is equipped with the most potent weapon available and good service members will need to be on guard for as long as this season of military history exists.
Defending Service Members Globally
Wherever Duty Calls, Our Defense Follows
