Military officials and their tryst with the sexual assault law

Multiple news organizations for over a year and a half now have been looking into the sexual assault within the US military uncovered failures by leaders to address it. Dozens of survivors and former employees who work for the military's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program have come forward to testify about how sexual assault cases are grossly mishandled by the military. Many believe that this government agency has fostered a culture where military officers can easily get away with such acts. 

Therefore, the court-martial of Maj. Gen. William Cooley gives a ray of hope that the military is finally changing its ways. An Air Force major general in Ohio has been convicted by a military judge of one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact in the first military trial of an Air Marshal General. The court marshall was a weeklong affair conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Cooley was convicted of the first specification but acquitted of the second and third. A former Air Force Commander of Air Force Research Laboratory, Cooley was charged with abusive sexual contact in an encounter with a woman. 

The survivor's attorney Ryan Guilds said that "Today marks the first time an Air Force general officer has been held responsible for his heinous actions" "Hopefully, this will not be as difficult for the next survivor." Cooley could face as much as seven years in jail as well as loss of rank, pay, and benefits. 

Source: CBS News