Split verdict in first-ever Air Force general military trial

Source: Associated Press

Split verdict in first-ever Air Force general military trial

April 23, 2022

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AP) — An Air Force major general in Ohio has been convicted by a military judge of one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact in the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general.

The charge faced by Maj. Gen. William Cooley during the weeklong court-martial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio had three specifications, one alleging a forcible kiss and two alleging forcible touching in 2018. Cooley was convicted Saturday of the forcible kissing specification but acquitted of the other two.

Officials said the verdict marks the first court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the Air Force’s 75-year history.

A former commander of Air Force Research Laboratory, Cooley was charged with abusive sexual contact in an encounter with a woman who gave him a ride after a backyard barbecue in New Mexico nearly four years ago. Officials said the woman is a civilian who is not a Department of Defense employee.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ohio-air-force-e044c1f2a9363e5ab402e14b2c920179


U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley, Air Force Research Laboratory commander, delivers remarks during a press conference inside the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, on April 18, 2019. Cooley, has been convicted, Saturday, April 23, 2022, by a military judge of one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact in the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general. (Wesley Farnsworth/U.S. Air Force via AP)