sexual assault | PROBABLE CAUSE

Ariel Castro spent his time in court today blaming his victims, his former wife and others, stating he was never abusive till he met his ex-wife. He claimed he was a sex addict, that most of the sex was consensual, and that the women he held captive for over a decade were never tortured and lived a happy life with him.

“We had a lot of harmony that went on in that home,” he said.

In Castro’s twisted mind, he never committed a violent crime. “These people are trying to paint me as a monster. I’m not a monster. I’m sick.”

“I’m sick,” is the only true statement Castro made all afternoon.

Which brings me to the other “monster” that was back in the news this week. Like Ariel Castro, O.J. Simpson has not taken responsibility for his crimes––and never will.

After five years behind bars, the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners approved O.J. Simpson’s parole request on five concurrent sentences imposed in 2008 following his conviction for kidnapping and armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel room.

Simpson should have been in prison for the rest of his life for brutally murdering his wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994, long before he was arrested for armed robbery. Instead, he spent eight years playing golf and proclaiming his innocence.

Thankfully, Simpson faces the possibility of at least four more years — and three more parole hearings — unless Clark County District Judge Linda Marie Bell throws out his conviction and grants him a new trial.

Unfortunately, Simpson’s current sentence pales in comparison to the sentence of life in prison plus 1,000 years for Castro. But whether he spends the rest of his life in prison or out, O.J. Simpson will, like Ariel Castro, always be remembered as the monster he truly is.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Kwinton Estacio pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of violating Air Force rules that prohibit instructors from having personal relationships with trainees. But Estacio pleaded not guilty and requested a trial on the more serious charge of sexual assault.

In a story that has mostly flown under the mainstream radar, military prosecutors have investigated more than a dozen instructors at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, and charged six with crimes ranging from rape to adultery. Estacio is the fourth instructor to go on trial.

The most serious allegations involved Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, an instructor sentenced to 20 years in prison in July after being convicted of raping one female recruit and sexually assaulting several others.

One month ago the Air Force ousted Colonel Glenn Palmer, the top commander over the basic training unit where investigators say dozens of female recruits were sexually assaulted or harassed by their male instructors. Palmer was not facing any criminal charges.

Lackland is where every new American airman reports for eight weeks of basic training. About 35,000 airmen graduate each year. About one in five recruits are female, while most of the nearly 500 instructors are male.

Unfortunately, the cases at Lackland are merely the tip of the iceberg. An estimated 19, 000 service members were raped or sexually assaulted by other service members in 2010. According to a Defense Department study, only 8% of sexual assailants are referred to military court, compared with 40% of similar offenders prosecuted in the civilian court system. In the U.S. military, a woman is more likely to be raped by a co-worker than killed by the enemy. Yet, only 13.5% of victims actually report the crimes.

According to an US Army report, the rate of violent sexual crime has increased 64 percent since 2006. Rape, sexual assault, and forcible sodomy were the most frequent violent sex crimes committed in 2011.” While women comprise 14 percent of the Army ranks, they account for 95 percent of all sex crime victims.

A recent military investigation found that many victims of sexual assault say they do not report the crimes because they do not believe the perpetrators will be prosecuted.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has promised to reduce the number of sexual assaults within the military and has announced that the Pentagon is preparing a series of new initiatives in an effort to try to curb the assaults. But Unit commanders will still have control over incidents of assault and can choose whether to investigate or not.

Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) has proposed a bill that would establish an independent body to investigate and prosecute military sexual assault cases. If Panetta really wants things to change, he’ll follow Speier’s recommendation.