As much as the military may wish it so, they will never be able to eliminate the element of eros from the ranks. Place what UCMJ articles you want around it, men and women placed in close quarters combined with long working hours will find themselves in precarious situations. However, every incident of eros is not an incident of sexual assault.
The team at Bilecki Law Group had to remind the military justice system of this fact while defending a well-respected Major out of Fort Bliss. That respect led him to the role of Battalion Executive Officer, which placed him at the helm of key operations for the Battalion. Known for creating a supportive environment for his Soldiers, the Major unfortunately cultivated too close of a relationship with another Soldier in the battalion.
Eros led the Major to adultery and infidelity, which was a position he never thought he would find himself in during his military career. The relationship then took a turn for the worse when his spouse uncovered the affair, and his paramour turned on him in the most unfortunate manner. The fellow Soldier then accused the Major of sexual assault, a charge that she only levied after the spouse’s discovery.
Thankfully for the Major, he reached out to an established Article 120 UCMJ sexual assault defense attorney, Tim Bilecki, and he now had a fighting chance to preserve his career, retirement, and his freedom. Had he left himself to the mercy of the military justice system just because he knew he had an affair with a fellow Soldier, his life would have been destroyed.
Once Bilecki was involved in the case, we conducted a complex investigation and examined every piece of evidence that military prosecutors would have preferred never to see the light of day. Our findings revealed significant inconsistencies in the alleged victim’s narrative, and we uncovered questionable motives surrounding the allegations. Moreover, there was no corroborating evidence to support the claims of sexual assault.
The discernible truth was that this was a consensual relationship that occurred outside of the work environment in private settings. Unbeknownst to the Major at the time, this fellow Soldier had a history of false allegations and manipulating Army regulations. There were many reasons to question the credibility of the accuser that, again, the prosecution would have rather we not brought up.
It was determined that because the accuser only brought up the allegations after the spouse discovered the affair, the accuser was likely manipulating the Department of Defense’s Safe To Report policy. She wanted to use that well-intended policy as a shield that would secure her a transfer to a preferred station and avoid disciplinary action for her role in the affair.
With the facts in hand, we took the fight straight to the heart of the military justice system. We mounted an aggressive defense, and because of our ability to wield the truth with precision, we were able to prevent any court martial charges from being preferred against our client. This was huge, as in the era of SHARP, commands are on the hunt for any reason to bring a charge against a service member for sexual misconduct.
Unfortunately, SHARP also influenced the command to issue a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR) to the Major. This was still a significant victory given that the charges of sexual assault, if found guilty, would have destroyed his Major’s life. It could have taken his career, robbed him of his retirement, and removed his very freedom from him. All off a false allegation by an accuser willing to use the military’s campaign to root out sexual assault to her benefit.
Despite the finality of the GOMOR, we are continuing to advocate for our client and exhaust all avenues to minimize the long-term impact of this decision. We remain dedicated to our client because this is a story that we’ve seen far too often, and someone must stand up for those being unjustly targeted in the era of SHARP.
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