Indecent assault gets airman discharge, prison, demotion

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KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) --  Committing an indecent assault on a female airman earned a 377th Security Forces Squadron airman here a bad conduct discharge, 15 months confinement and demotion in rank to E-1.

Senior Airman Alfredo Preciado was convicted in a general court-martial here. He elected to be tried by a military judge alone; Col. Jack Anderson presided.

Airman Preciado's actions happened while he was deployed in the spring of 2003, said Capt. Terrence McCollom of the 377th Air Base Wing legal office. After a night of drinking at the base club, Airman Preciado indecently assaulted another intoxicated airman.

Captain McCollom said Airman Preciado's assault was interrupted when a third airman returned to the tent and observed Airman Preciado's actions.

Airman Preciado was initially charged with attempted rape and indecent assault, Captain McCollom said. He pleaded guilty to the indecent assault and not guilty to attempted rape. The government dismissed the attempted rape charge in exchange for Airman Preciado's guilty plea on the indecent assault charge.

During the sentencing argument, government lawyers argued Airman Preciado exercised more than just poor judgment when he betrayed the trust of his fellow airmen and the Air Force that night, Captain McCollom said. They argued that the accused's intoxication was neither a justification nor a legal excuse for his assault of someone he knew.

Area defense counsel lawyer Capt. Kimani Eason argued that the federal conviction Airman Preciado received as a result of his guilty plea was punishment enough, Captain McCollom said. She stressed that Airman Preciado had accepted responsibility for his crimes and that the government presented no evidence of direct victim impact.

"Taking advantage of a fellow airman was inexcusable," said Major Tiffany Dawson, assistant trial counsel for the case. "Airman Preciado destroyed the trust that his fellow airmen and the Air Force placed in him. The court's decision has made it clear that the Air Force will not tolerate misconduct that demonstrates an egregious disregard for others and basic standards of conduct." (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service)