An Air Force general was found guilty of sexual abuse for the first time in the military branch’s history.
Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley was found guilty of abusive sexual contact by a senior military judge on Saturday. Cooley was accused of forcibly kissing a victim in a car after a 2018 barbecue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to an Air Force press release.
“At the end of the day, [the victim] wanted a process that was fair,” Ryan Guilds, the victim’s attorney, said in a press statement. “She is incredibly grateful for the prosecution team that worked on this case.”
This will be the first court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the Air Force’s 75-year existence.
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The general was convicted of one charge of sexual assault with three specifications, including “kissing her on the lips and tongue with an intent to gratify his sexual desire,” of which he was found guilty. He was not found guilty of the two other specifications, which included causing her to touch him over his clothing and alleged touching of her breasts and private areas through clothing.
The victim, who remains unnamed, told the court that Cooley had asked for a ride on Aug. 12, 2018, after he had consumed alcohol at a barbecue. She said Cooley told her that he fantasized about having sex with her. He later pressed her against the car door, where he forcibly kissed and groped her. The victim reported the assault in 2019 to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Cooley, who previously served as the commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, was relieved of duty in January 2020 by Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr. due to the alleged misconduct under investigation.
Cooley denied the allegation, pleading not guilty.
The trial featured 10 witnesses speaking on the matter and the review of several text messages, emails, and other communique. Cooley did not testify.
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“This case demonstrates the commitment of Air Force leaders to fully investigate the facts and hold Airmen of any rank accountable for their actions when they fail to uphold Air Force standards,” Col. Eric Mejia, the staff judge advocate for Cooley’s command, said in a press statement.
The conviction arrives months after President Joe Biden signed a $740 billion military spending bill that included several revisions to the Pentagon’s approach to sexual assault investigations, including creating an independent prosecutor’s office for each military service with officials trained to handle serious crimes such as sexual assault, murder, and kidnapping.
