FORT BRAGG, NC : A US Army general has pleaded guilty to military crimes of having an adulterous affair with junior female officers and possessing pornography on his laptop while deployed in Afghanistan.
Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair, the defendant in a rare court-martial against a top US military officer, stood firm in his resolve to fight charges that he sexually assaulted a female captain during their three-year relationship.
Sinclair, 51, a married father of two, said the affair with the woman 17 years his junior was consensual throughout, but he agreed it was inappropriate by military standards. "I was a senior leader; she was a subordinate leader," he told the court in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he remains on active duty.
Sinclair was stripped of command in southern Afghanistan in May 2012 as a result of the criminal allegations. He also pleaded guilty to trying to impede military justice after learning he was being investigated, deleting an email account that contained nude photographs of a civilian woman whom he described as a childhood friend.
For his admissions to wrongdoing, the decorated officer faces up to 15 years in prison, dismissal from the Army and forfeiture of pay and allowances. "He accepted responsibility for his conduct," lead defence attorney Richard Scheff told reporters. "He's been waiting for this day."