Naval Academy quarterback Lamar Owens could face life in prison if convicted on charges that he raped another midshipman, since he will soon face a general court-martial ? the military trial that allows the most severe penalties.
Academy superintendent Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt announced Friday that Owens will be court-martialed.
Owens is accused of raping another midshipman in a Naval Academy dorm room in January. Owens allegedly removed the accuser?s clothes, lay on top of her while she was “incapacitated as a result of the consumption of alcohol” and had intercourse with her.
The court-martial comes after Owens? March Article 32 hearing, a military procedure akin to a grand jury. The Naval Academy has not yet set a date for the court-martial.
Naval Academy spokeswoman Deborah Goode said that it is “unlikely [Owens] will graduate on time” but that he will “remain as a midshipman until all allegations are resolved.”
The academy also announced Friday that another midshipman, whose name is not being released, will face a special court-martial on sexual assault charges stemming from a February night at a Washington, D.C., hotel.
According to the charging documents, the midshipman lifted an incapacitated female midshipman off her hotel bed and carried her to another, took off her clothes and attempted “taking advantage of her partial incapacitation resulting from consumption of alcohol and pressuring her, presuming consent, to engage in multiple acts of sexual intercourse.”
The documents also said the midshipman exposed himself to other midshipmen and civilians in the hotel.
The special court-martial is a less serious type of trial with less severe punishments. Punishments usually carry a 12-month maximum penalty, forfeitures of pay for 12 months, or a bad-conduct discharge.
Of the 56 Naval Academy midshipmen accused of sexual assault since 1998, only two were convicted, according to a Washington Post review of Navy incident reports, case summaries and data released by the academy.
The charges come on the heels of a recent survey that said only 44 percent of female midshipmen believe the Naval Academy provides a positive environment for women.
