Months after his sudden removal from his post in Afghanistan, Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair has been charged with multiple violations of the military's Uniform Code, ranging from wrongful sexual conduct to several rules violations.
For our Newscast desk, NPR's Tom Bowman reports that "Sinclair faces multiple counts of sexual misconduct and maltreatment of subordinates, as well as charges he violated orders by possessing alcohol and pornography while deployed."
Those charges include "forcible sodomy," according to The Fayetteville Observer, which is located near Sinclair's home base of Fort Bragg. The paper's Henry Cunningham says they also include "attempted violation of an order, violations of regulations by wrongfully engaging in inappropriate relationships and misusing a government travel charge card."
According to NBC News, changes to the Uniform Code "implemented this year now consider all forms of 'forced sex' as rape."
The Fort Bragg Public Affairs Office announced the charges today, in a statement that also says Sinclair is accused of "filing fraudulent claims, engaging in conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman and engaging in conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline, or of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces."
When he was in Afghanistan, Sinclair served as a deputy commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division. He lost that post and was summoned back home in May, as part of the investigation into his activities. Today's announcement presumably means that investigation has now ended — the military does not normally offer information about open investigations.
A preliminary hearing in Sinclair's case has not yet been scheduled.
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