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Airman convicted of sexual assault on woman incapable of consent

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  A Tinker Airman was convicted last week of having sex with an ex-girlfriend while she was too drunk to consent, and will be discharged from the Air Force.

Senior Airman Courtney D. Waddell of the 72nd Security Forces Squadron was found guilty of committing a sexual act upon a young woman who was "incapable of consenting ... because she was impaired" from the consumption of alcoholic drinks, "a condition that was known or reasonably should have been known by the accused."

The judge presiding over the general court-martial, Lt. Col. Matthew Ward from Sheppard AFB, Texas, outlined for the eight-member jury the maximum sentence they could impose: 30 years' imprisonment, reduction in rank to E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge.

After deliberating for two hours on the afternoon of Oct. 17, the jury of Tinker officers -- six men and two women -- decided that the defendant should be reprimanded, reduced in rank to E-1, compelled to forfeit $200 from his paycheck every month for five months, restricted to the Tinker AFB limits for two months, and receive a bad-conduct discharge. Although he avoided prison, Airman Waddell will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The conviction stemmed from a sexual assault committed earlier this year upon a young woman from eastern Oklahoma County who is currently an airman first class stationed on the East Coast.

Testimony during the three-day trial indicated that Airman Waddell and the victim started dating in early December 2012 and soon entered an exclusive and sexual relationship. The victim said she broke up with the accused in about mid-January because he became "clingy and needy" and she was preparing to leave March 5 for basic training.
Even after the break-up the defendant continued sending messages to the victim: at least 28 Facebook messages and up to 15 telephone text messages per day, Capt. Andrew Kasman, a prosecutor with the 72nd Air Base Wing Judge Advocate's staff, related in his opening statement to the panel.

The woman said she rarely responded. However, she and the defendant crossed paths on occasion because they had a mutual circle of friends.

The victim turned 21 on Feb. 20 and decided to celebrate her birthday over the weekend. Her goal on Friday, Feb. 22, was "21 shots for my 21st birthday," she told the lead prosecutor, Capt. Dane Horne from Maxwell AFB.

She stated that she consumed a margarita at a restaurant; five or six shots of tequila and an equal number of vodka shots, plus one mixed drink, while with friends who had gathered at Airman Waddell's house in Midwest City; and several more drinks at a bar in south Oklahoma City before it closed at 2 a.m. Feb. 23.

The victim ended up back at Airman Waddell's house about 2:30 a.m., threw up in his bathroom and passed out in his bed. Witnesses said the Airman called his ex-girlfriend's sister and promised her that the victim would be safe at his house, that he would not touch the woman, and that he would sleep on his couch.

Instead, the victim testified, she awoke about 4:30 a.m. with Airman Waddell on top of her, sexually assaulting her.

The young woman communicated with the defendant the next day via text message, asking, "Why would you have sex with me when you knew I was that drunk?" Airman Waddell apologized repeatedly -- seven times in two days, according to his defense attorney, Capt. Peter Havern from Scott AFB, Ill.

The victim testified that she and their mutual friends assembled at Airman Waddell's house again the evening of Feb. 24 and went out dancing and drinking again. After she watched the defendant dancing with her sister, the victim testified, she felt compelled to tell her sister about the unwanted sexual encounter with Airman Waddell.

The victim was in basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas, when she was summoned by officers from the Office of Special Investigations to tell about the incident that occurred the month before in Oklahoma.

In his sentencing argument, Captain Kasman asserted that the defendant has low rehabilitative potential and doesn't learn from his mistakes. Airman Waddell's personnel file includes eight letters of counseling, admonishment or reprimand "for the same thing," failure to go, the captain said. "He couldn't be on time."

Captain Kasman urged the jury to sentence Airman Waddell to prison for at least five years. He insisted that the Airman also "earned" and "deserves" a dishonorable discharge because the crime was egregious and because of the deceitful manner in which it was committed.

The defense counsel appealed for mercy. "Don't abandon him for five years," he pleaded. Sentencing Airman Waddell to five years' confinement would be the same as "throwing him away," Captain Havern argued.

The 24-year-old Airman enlisted in the Air Force five years ago, in September 2008, and has deployed twice: to Bagram, Afghanistan, and to Kuwait.

Also during the sentencing phase, the defendant's mother testified. Her voice breaking, she said her son first envisioned serving in the Air Force when just a child. And she said that when he was "kicked off" a school bus for three days for misbehaving, she made him walk to and from school, a round trip of 10 miles, each of those days. "He knew he had to be accountable for what he did," she told the jurors.