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Billy Calzada / AP
Air Force Staff Sgt. Luis Walker is shown Friday arriving for the fourth day of his trial at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
An Air Force instructor was sentenced to 20 years in prison Saturday after being convicted of rape and sexual assault in a sweeping sex scandal that rocked one of the nation's busiest military training centers, The Associated Press reported.
A military jury at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio found Staff Sgt. Luis Walker guilty Friday night on all 28 charges he faced, including rape, aggravated sexual contact and multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault. A judge consolidated those charges Saturday into 20, but that didn't affect Walker's maximum sentence. He could have received life in prison
Walker is among 12 Lackland Air Force Base instructors investigated for sexual misconduct toward at least 31 female trainees, and he faced the most serious counts among the six instructors charged in a sex scandal that rocked one of the nation's busiest training bases.
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Walker submitted a written statement during the sentencing hearing, but he also spoke from a podium directly to the jury while his two sons, ages 7 and 4, looked on quietly.
"I ask for my family's sake, for my two boys right there," Walker said, wheeling around and sobbing. "I ask that I am allowed to have a future with them."
Walker tried to mention having taken a polygraph test, but the prosecution objected before he could divulge the results.
"I promise you," he said of any sentence, "I'll accept it humbly and with the commitment to move forward positively."
Walker showed no emotion Friday as the verdict by a seven-member military jury was read.
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Prosecutors say from October 2010 through January 2011, Walker sexually assaulted or had improper sexual or personal contact with at least 10 female recruits. Lackland is where all Air Force recruits go through basic training.
Several of Walker's alleged victims testified during his court-martial, including one who described how Walker lured her into an office and sexually assaulted her on a bed, ignoring her pleas to stop. The Associated Press does not usually identify sexual assault victims.
Five of the women testified Saturday at Walker's sentencing, saying they couldn't sleep or maintain relationships with men after the assaults. They said Walker's actions eroded their trust in authority and affected their performance at work.
"It's gotten to where I had anger issues even at work," said one, who had left the military. "If anyone makes even the slightest sexual reference, I go off. I have zero self-control."
The other four are still in the military. One said it affected her tour in Afghanistan because she felt uncomfortable being alone with men.
Related: Air Force sex scandal: Instructor convicted of rape
"It's made it extremely hard to interact with authority figures," she said. "During my tour in Afghanistan, I was a little bit more scared of everything. I can't work with certain individuals just since they remind me of Staff Sgt. Walker."
Another said her 15-year-old sister was interested in joining the Air Force, but she "absolutely" wouldn't allow it.
The women told jurors during the trial that Walker gained their trust to get them alone in his office or an empty dormitory, where he then forced them into kissing, touching or intercourse. The alleged sexual misconduct among instructors at the base apparently began in 2009, but the first woman didn't come forward until last year. The women who testified against Walker said they didn't tell anybody at first because they feared being booted from the Air Force.
But at least one said her career was destroyed nonetheless.
"I don't enjoy the military anymore," she said during Saturday's sentencing. "I don't want to be in it. I'm scared to open my door to anyone."
According to prosecutors, Walker had sexual intercourse with four of the 10 female recruits. He was also accused of making flirtatious or sexually suggestive comments, sending inappropriate text messages and sometimes groping his recruits.
Prosecutors also accused Walker of forcing five recruits to engage in sexual acts with him by threatening their military careers, and they said he intimidated two of the women into lying about his alleged misconduct.
The defense noted that none of the victims had any record of receiving treatment or medication for anxiety, even though two said Saturday that they had seen doctors and taken medication.
Herbert O'Connor, Walker's stepfather, said Walker grew up in a tough part of Brooklyn and had talked of joining the Air Force since he was 14.
"All of his dreams are shattered and our dreams because I was so proud of him and the career he made in the Air Force," O'Connor said.
Walker's wife of eight years, Yeimi Walker, also cried during her testimony. She said her sons didn't understand what was happening to their father and she didn't plan to tell them for as long as she could.
"He's all we have," she said, noting that Walker supports the family as well as her sister and grandparents with his Air Force salary. Speaking directly to the jury, she said "spare at least some of his time in the sentence. I don't want my boys to grow up without a father."
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Leave a Comment:
IF I had been the enlisted member of the board, I would have argued for a much longer sentence AND confinement at hard labor. But 20 years is a long time, and 20 years in some military confinement facilities is long, indeed. The man threw @!$%# on our honor. That, to me, does more harm than the rapes and sexual assaults in the long term... and that's not to take anything away from the horrific nature of THOSE crimes. The man is scum AND a slap in the face to every NCO who has ever served honorably as a TI.
Too bad we restrict the death penalty in the military.
The Air Force has no honor left. This is deja vu all over again. I thought they brought in new blood to prevent this from happening the last time they got caught. Obviously, there is no difference between the new and the old blood. The problem is not confined to the Air Force either. Sexual harassment and rape are common place in all branches of the military. Time to clean up your act.
And how, do you suppose, the Services are suppose to do this? You cannot tell when someone enlists that this man is going to rape someone unless he has a previous arrest for it or a sexual assault arrest on his record. What do you think the AF has? A crystal ball that says this man will sexually assault or rape these recruits therefore we cannot accept him in the Service? They have no way of knowing, just like in civilian life, until it happens or is reported--unfortunately. It is "those" people who bring dishonor to the AF, not that there is no honor in the AF. There is a big difference. The AF is a great Service, but like any organization that size, it has people in it that are bad, and bad in different areas, like politicians, leaders, and like this miscreant, a rapist. You have the same thing in the civilian community, but are you going to say the same thing? That there is no honor left in the United States as a whole? I don't think so. Don't judge the entire AF on a few bad apples. There are a lot of good people in the AF and, yes, they have their share of bad ones too. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get rid of the bad ones until something like this happens. Their bad leaders are almost impossible to get rid of. Like bad pennies, they are always around.
I'm sorry for the kids, his wife, and, especially, all of the victims but not at all sorry for this germ. He should have remembered the old axiom. "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime." What an utter piece of crap this guy is.
MDRW you are so full of crap you stink and show just how ignorant you are. Bush started all this crap with his two wars deregulation of the housing industry and banks and lord knows else. This guy was given a rank and authority over people and he abused it and now he is getting punished for it it is not the fault of President Obama he doesn't even know this clown. If anyone who is to blame is the base commander for not paying attention to his own command and allowing this type of conduct to be conducted. In life where people have authority over others their will be abuse and no one watches it like they should and allows it to go on. I had a female supervisor who was slick she would screw people over and act like she was innocent and she was not even qualified to be in her position. This is the major problem in our society today and allowed by people in charge so they can stay in power and not have to worry that someone higher up with question them about their qualifications and abilities even if they are out dated and not merit the position they are in.
Seems kinda on the light side of a sentence. One year for each count? If they had bumped it to either 3 years per count or sentence to be served without possibility of Parole might have been a little more acceptable.
Personally, I'd say immediate physical castration without anesthesia and Life Sentence with Hard Labor.
Nip it in the Bud.
He had fckd more women in a while that most of you will do in your entire life,...is that what really bothers to all of you ....fckng frustrated Hippocrates???, .....may be the women are dreaming suing the Air Force,....you know, the new american dream.
@ Francisco Marti. You sir are a douche bag and you need to STFU! Loser!
I agree. Francsico, you are a waste of skin if ever there was a waste of skin. A mind is a terrible thing to waste and your mind is just plain absent!
Erick Holder and Obama killed more Mexicans than this went they sent guns to Mexico, trying to push gun control "under the radar". Where is the outrage? Or do those poor Mexicans even matter?
@ sikntrd. Yeah you are right. They have to keep up the fear mongering about middle eastern terrorist and Mexican drug dealers. It's the only way they can keep the funding going for the military industrial complex. Drug dealers in Mexico? pffft....more like C.I.A. funded goons and "Operation The Fast & Furious" proves it. You can all also google "Operation Ajax", "Operation Northwoods", "Operation Garden Plot" and "Paperclip Project".
It's a bad situation. But the part I don't get is why they would allow children in the courtroom to hear this type of case. I was 10 when my parents divorced and the judge didn't allow me in the courtroom-and that was just fighting-there was no heinous crime being discussed. This guys twice the POS if he used those kids to try the sympathy vote.
Another black mother @!$%#er getting away with @!$%#. If the guy was white or latino they would have thrown the book at him. Maybe Jesse, Al, Spike or the Black Panthers made some calls. Maybe they were afraid the blacks would riot and loot. I bet I would get more than 20 if I went out and sexually assaulted one women let alone 20. What a crock of @!$%#. This mother@!$%#er needs to do some serious time. WTF?
No, I disagree. I think there are two things going on. 1) It's the good ole boy system in the AF taking place and the fact that some of these women didn't show up and testify until years later--which I personally have to doubt their credibility. The AF still has a hangup about sending one of their boys to jail when it comes to charges made by women. 2) I think the other thing may be sympathy for his family. He is the sole support for his wife and children plus a sister-in-law and others. I don't know what they are going to do, but I think the jury may be thinking about those kids with no father down the line. However, by the time he serves 20 years, they will be adults. How those kids are suppose to handle the reasons why their father is in prison I don't know. I don't think I would ever tell them. They don't need that kind of baggage over their heads for the rest of their lives. Twenty years is nothing to sneeze at. If he was given a dishonorable discharge (and the article does not say, but I would think that is a given), his prospects for a job when he does get out are slim-to-none. That type of discharge follows you around and you can't hide it. Very few employers will hire you when they find out about that one. His family should start thinking about starting over and rebuilding. Any type of future with him is over and the kids just don't need the baggage connected with him in their future.
A good soldier, taking the rap for his superior officers. They should all be sentenced to life in prison, starting with the commander.
Women, meet the enemy, Lunatic Staff Sgt. Luis Walker.
Bye bye, Walker.
He is trash. His wife and kids will be better off without him. His wife should tell his kids the truth just as soon as they are able to understand. They should have gave him life.
On you Obama haters. George W. Bush sent our brave men and women to a FALSE WAR. Yet, no
venom from you haters toward him. Yet, because Obama is a minority, you all hate him with a passion. You all bring up your hate in every situation. Here a serviceman is raping women, and some brain-washed-no-brains-having-right-wing-nutcase goes on to bash Obama. You haters are sickening to say the least.
This article really doesn't have anything to do with Obama. However, even if it were President John Q. Citizen in office you would be reading the same inputs. People will vent over politics on any occasion--even if the occasion doesn't call for it.
Ihr Euch. The abuse of his charges is just one of many ways power over helpless and trusting younger folks gets used to satisfy base desires. Twisted homosexual men in the Catholic Church. Hollywood director/producers. Washington legislators. The patterns are pretty clear, and have implications for primary prevention. Aaltarboy.
And Cheney is worried about cutting a few bucks out of the military budget? Didn't know Haliburton made beds too.
Typical libtard, always blames someone else for some else's actions.
LOL! Serves him right!
Walker obviously has a split personality: on the one hand, he's a loving father and husband whose also taken on the responsibility of caring for his wife's sister and elderly parents; on the other, he's a serial rapist compelled not to take "No!" for an answer. His rape of these women far overrides any virtues he has as a husband and father. The Court's sentence is the correct one.
It is Francsico, not francisco, who tell you that I am a hispano,...imbecile????....portelgiest, you are an other fckng white supremacist with the @!$%# hunging from your pestilent ass.....you are worst than the snakes...go and fck your mother, ...you need to be cloned.
Francisco has offered ample evidence that backs my belief that many of the horde from the south are lacking in cognitive abilities and are a burden to any decent society they invade.
And Francsico, you again, have proven my thoughts that whatever you are, you are ignorant to the extreme. Whatever you are, please don't tell us so you don't make those people hide their heads in shame. Your mouth seems to be overloading your ass every time you make an input so why don't you "stuff it"!!!
And P.S. dopehead, this comes from a white, non white supremist that just hates ignorant people like you. There is always one like you in every posting on every article. Trash like you always surfaces to the top. Nothing can stop it. Garbage collectors always seem to drop some and the trash always lays there to tell people it is there, and sure enough here you are, displaying your trashy presence on the screen. I guess we will have to wait until you rot again but in the mean time, no one should pay any attention to your rotting corpse. It just isn't worth watching the decay.
He should be getting life, not 20 years.
I was not present when the supposed assaults occurred.
Having been through boot camp I have trouble imagining how these assaults could have occurred.
Too many people around in confined quarters.
Maybe the convicted guy was unable to prove his innocence.
Note the many comments on this message board.
Society is quick to condemn yet another evil, vile and dangerous male.
Consider the many benefits awaiting the females; Social Security disability payments for life being one.
Do a Web search for female-against-male false accusations.
More common than most folks realize.
Even if the guy made some mistakes were they to the extent in reality as stated by the females?
Parts of the story written above triggers my "not so sure" button for many reasons.
Yes, let's consider the many benefits awaiting these women; years of psychiatric counseling, money spent on anxiety medication, constant uneasiness toward men (just to name a few). As a former Airman I suffered an assault by a fellow dorm resident at my first duty station. he didn't spend a single day behind bars. He was an SP, the most they did was take away his weapon during the court martial, Boo-F---ing-Hoo! I had also hear tales of TI's sneaking girls out of the dorms when I was stationed at Lackland for another part of my training. That was 25 years ago. From the moment I saw headlines about this story my "It's about time!" button went off. There's been alot of BS going on for a long time and it looks like it finally hit the fan.
SeriouslyThough, Did this article trigger you cuz it sure as hell has triggered me.... ObboP having been to boot camp I could see this happening easy.
To Tynabee---thank you for your sacrifices as a military Wife. No one who isn't connected to military personnel knows what the spouse deals with while the other spouse is deployed. I am privileged to have one of the greatest DAUGHTER-IN -LAWS known to Man. She has kept the home going thru 3 tours in Iraq and 2 in Afghanistan for Her, now, Sgts. Maj. who has come up thru the ranks. She has raised a step son and 2 of their children in that time to be fine young men and woman. The Step Son is in the military too.
Once again thank You and please thank your Husband for me for His service to our country-- from a proud Father of a career Soldier (He has 25 yrs. in and I will see Him and His family next month for the first time in 3 yrs. He is coming home from Afghanistan, his family was elsewhere but still away from Him.)
Well, every once in awhile, someone has to take one for the team. This is a most inappropriate statement indeed. I feel the same way when a correctional officer is hemmed up on an assault/battery on an inmate charge. Dude, it happens every single day. Go ahead and feed these I can't believe it's not Margerine stories. It doesn't matter if this guy was sentenced to 60 years. So what? That's just one.
My comments do not reflect on the outstanding military men and women that I have served with...but I have eyes, I have ears. Both as a military man and civilian, I have experienced such tragedy. Most of the time, things don't matter like they ought to. This is just one. It's barely even a start. Next time, we start over. This is just the way it is.
The rape rate in the military is around 50% according to some figures that I heard. So is this surpising? Next it will be gay rapes. I mean, until you start firing squad some of these people or 30 year terms you don't get any respect. Maybe that consumer protection bureau should be involved in the rate disclosure. Oh thats right, they don't work in this area.
Mr. Walker earned the 20 year sentence he was given.
ala frosted miniwheats"the white part of me says follow the rules---But the black part of me says..."
Er...um, how does just ONE guy take ALL the responsibility for this culture at Lackland AFB? I mean c'mon, this went on for three years and it involved numerous offenders, 12 to be exact according to the article. So how does someone or anyone carry out these acts without ANYBODY else knowing about it? I find this hard to believe.This suggests ALL personnel on ALL AFB training centers undergo 101 sexual harassment training including ALL civilian personnel on these training centers. This is the "fall guy" for what he did but I cannot overlook how other responsible AFB personnel failed to notice or inquire the existence of this ongoing misconduct. Others had to have known or sensed something was not right but given the culture of this environment it was shrugged off as normal or they simply didn't want to get involved and allowed it to continue....
Sounds like the military amounts to a slaughterhouse for young female recruits. I can just imagine their wide eyes and horror. This man ruined innocent lives; and quite appropriately, his own.
Thier lives are only ruined if they let thier lives be ruined. Don't speak for these girls. WTF is wrong with you. Just because someone is sexually assaulted doesn't mean it's the end of the F'ing world. So stop speaking for them. They can still have great lives and great families and live happily ever after if they choose to.