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Air Force general convicted in historic trial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Brook Endale | Cincinnati Enquirer
The trial of an Air Force major general at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton ended in a conviction, according to a release from the Air Force.
The charge Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley was facing had three specifications stemming from an incident in August 2018. According to the release, a woman accused Cooley of forcibly kissing and touching after in a car after an evening barbeque in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
According to the release, for the first specification of forcibly kissing the woman, Cooley was found guilty.
Cooley was found not guilty for the other two specifications, including causing her to touch him and his alleged touching of her.
The verdict marks the first court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the Air Force's 75-year history.
During the trial, the woman said Cooley asked for a ride after an evening barbeque, where he had consumed alcohol. During the short ride, the woman said Cooley told her that he fantasized about having sex with her. She alleged Cooley forcibly kissed her and groped her through her clothes.
In 2019, the woman and her spouse reported the assault to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Cooley was previously commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory. He was fired from his research laboratory position in January 2020 after an Air Force investigation.
The woman's attorney, Ryan Guilds, said it takes amazing courage for survivors of sexual assault to come forward and face the trial process, but support is available.
"It is very hard to be a survivor in a criminal case. That is one of many reasons you see so few of these cases go to court-martial," Guilds said.
https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/news/2022/04/23/air-force-general-convicted-historical-trial/7425010001/