FORT LEONARD WOOD (AP) – A military judge has recommended a 20-year prison sentence for a Missouri drill sergeant found guilty of sexually assaulting and harassing several female soldiers.
Army Staff Sgt. Angel M. Sanchez was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault and six counts of abusive sexual contact. The verdict came Wednesday afternoon at a court-martial.
Sanchez was accused of using his supervisory position with the 14th Military Police Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood to isolate his victims and win their trust with favors, including cake and ice cream. One woman testified that failing to cooperate would have jeopardized her military status.
The Philadelphia native and married father of two didn’t testify during the three-day hearing but apologized to his victims, many of whom were in the courtroom, after the verdict.
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ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (AP) — The military court-martial of a Missouri sergeant accused of sexually assaulting eight female soldiers has resumed.
A verdict is expected Wednesday after a three-day trial for 30-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Angel M. Sanchez, who is accused of using his supervisory position with the 14th Military Police Brigade to threaten some of the women he was tasked with training.
Sanchez pleaded guilty to three charges at the outset of the military judicial hearing. His accusers said the incidents took place in the bathroom of the female barracks as well as in an office shared by drill sergeants.
Most of the allegations involved women at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, but some involved women in Afghanistan and Fort Richardson, Alaska.