Trent—he goes by his middle name—received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and entered in 2010. A year later, a female cadet charged him with sex crimes. Today his aspiration to serve is in jeopardy even though a court-martial acquitted him. His story illustrates both the human toll and the cost to the country of the current moral panic over sexual assault in the military. …
The alleged attack turned out to have occurred during an academy-sponsored ski trip to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, in January 2011. The 180 cadets on the trip had been told they were permitted to drink, but only if they were over 21 (Quebec’s drinking age is 18) and only in public places like bars and restaurants. Both those limits were widely flouted. …
The investigation wrapped up in April 2012, 15 months after the trip. The investigating officer, Lt. Col. Mark Visger, sent a memo to Brig. Gen. Theodore Martin, then commandant of cadets. “I feel that it is my duty to inform you that a trial will be difficult and there are significant challenges to proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Col. Visger wrote. But he had it both ways, also finding “reasonable grounds to support the charges and proceed to general court-martial.” After multiple delays, the trial began in October 2012. …
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