Cadet rape suspect cuts deal

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jun 9, 2004 | by PAM ZUBECK THE GAZETTE

An Air Force Academy cadet who became symbolic of the sex-assault scandal was reprimanded and fined $2,000 but got no jail time Tuesday after rape and sodomy charges were replaced with lesser offenses in a plea agreement.

Air Force judge Col. Barbara Brand imposed the sentence on Douglas L. Meester after a half-day sentencing hearing, replacing the courtmartial due to start Tuesday.

The sophomore cadet's father, mother and sister gasped and cried after the sentence was imposed. Meester looked relieved and later choked up when hugging his family.

Meester was charged with rape, forcible sodomy, indecent assault and conduct unbecoming an officer for providing alcohol to minors.

The charges came after dozens of women went public in early 2003 alleging in other cases that the academy ignored their sex-assault reports.

The claims drew national attention, sparked several investigations and provoked sharp rebukes from Congress.

Meester's attorney, Frank Spinner, had alleged Meester's case didn't warrant court-martial, and he was being made an example. Academy commanders felt pressure to prosecute Meester, the first cadet charged with rape after the scandal came to light, Spinner said.

Tuesday, Meester's charges were dismissed and replaced with dereliction of duty by providing alcohol to minors, conduct unbecoming for having sex with a drunk woman and indecent acts for having sex as another male slept nearby.

Within weeks, academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. John Rosa Jr. will approve the sentence and plea bargain, impose a lighter sentence or dismiss the charges.

Rosa endorsed the decision of Brig. Gen. John Weida, the commandant of cadets, to court-martial Meester despite two academy lawyers advising against it.

Meester's charges arose from an Oct. 18, 2002, dorm drinking party during which a female freshman did six or seven "body shots" by licking salt from cadets' bodies before drinking tequila and allowing them to do the same to her.

The woman alleged she was too drunk to resist Meester's advances. Meester alleged the sex was consensual.

Testifying Tuesday via videotape, she tepidly endorsed the deal, noting the chances of conviction were "remote" and voicing a desire to move on.

She testified at a May 2003 evidentiary hearing she could see why Meester thought the sex was consensual.

The next month, she wrote to Weida saying "it is imperative" that Meester be convicted and serve at least two years in prison.

Weida ordered Meester to trial, Rosa concurred and Air Force Secretary James Roche later rejected Meester's request to resign instead of standing trial.

In an Oct. 23, 2003, e-mail to a prosecutor, the woman said she wanted the case to be over and felt "a trial is useless.... Let's move on. I dislike the fact that a jury is the deciding factor as to whether I was taken advantage of or not."

Documents obtained by The Gazette show the woman's rape examination revealed semen from Meester and the woman's cadet boyfriend, with whom she had been ordered previously not to have sexual relations.

Reading from a prepared statement Tuesday, Meester labeled the incident "a horrible judgment on everyone's part."

Prosecutor Maj. John Taitt sought six months in prison, saying Meester saw the woman as a "target of opportunity" and exploited her.

Spinner urged a light sentence, arguing that harsh treatment would undermine confidence in the military justice system. He said the woman went to Meester's room and drank voluntarily.

At a news conference, Spinner said the case should cause academy leaders to be "much more careful."

"So much of last year was skewed in favor of alleged victims, and now I think we've seen that the alleged accused have a side to their story as well," he said.

That the woman was involved in the plea deal sends a "great message" to sexual assault victims, academy spokeswoman Air Force Maj. Erica Austin said.

"I think the victims of sexual assault, if they know the facts of this case, will take away that the victim was consulted in this case and was allowed to have the ability to be agreeable to a decision."

Meester also faces discipline for violating academy rules.

How Meester will depart the Air Force has not been determined, Spinner said, although Austin said Meester can't be punitively discharged. Meester will finish college in Florida.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or zubeck@gazette.com