STATEMENT: Protect Our Defenders Calls for Pilots to be Dismissed from US Military
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2013
Contact: Brian Purchia, , brian@protectourdefenders.com
*** STATEMENT ***
PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS CALLS FOR AIR FORCE PILOTS TO BE DISMISSED FROM US MILITARY
Washington DC – Today, the Stars & Stripes revealed that a woman has come forward who says that she had an extra marital affair and a child with, Lt. Col. James Wilkerson. The woman said, according to Stars & Stripes, “she possesses legal adoption documents in which Wilkerson relinquishes his parental rights.”
The article went on to say that the Air Force “will be conducting a command directed investigation.”
Last month with a flick of his pen, Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin set justice aside and overruled the jury’s verdict convicting Lt. Col. James Wilkerson of aggravated sexual assault of a civilian contractor at Aviano Air Base. When convicted, Wilkerson was dismissed from the Air Force and sentenced to one year in jail. Franklin’s reversal freed his fellow fighter pilot and reinstated him back into the Air Force. At that time, Franklin also recommended Wilkerson for promotion.
Wilkerson has a long history of misconduct, as first reported by the New York Times. Wilkerson, who Franklin said (in explaining why he set Wilkerson’s conviction aside) was a “doting father and husband.”
Last week, Protect Our Defenders launched a petition on Causes.com calling on Sec. Hagel to stand up for victims of sexual assault and remove Franklin and Wilkerson from the Air Force and today Protect Our Defenders is holding a protest in Tucson, where Wilkerson has been transferred.
Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Mark Welsh has said, “[sexual assault] has the potential to rip the fabric of your force apart. I think it is doing that to a certain extent now” and that “every commander, every supervisor,who isn’t actively engaged in being part of the solution of this is part of the problem.”
Today, Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish released the following statement:
“Lt. Gen. Franklin in overturning Lt. Col. Wilkerson’s sexual assault conviction ignored the fact that Wilkerson failed a polygraph test, ignored he had pulled rank to fend off law enforcement officials, and ignored that he was caught peeking over a bathroom stall at an officer’s wife. If this recent alleged revelation is true it is one more indication that Franklin made the wrong decision for the wrong reasons — to protect another pilot.
It goes to show you how deeply flawed the military justice system truly is. Some in the military would argue that a commander’s absolute power to dispense justice is a valuable American tradition, and that it is needed for good order and discipline. Yet, when victims are punished and perpetrators go free, trust — the essential ingredient to an effective — functioning military — is undermined.
The system instead is an antiquated British relic from medieval times that many modern militaries have aptly discarded. Neither evidence, nor intuition, nor anecdotes show that it serves good order and discipline.
This case is yet another example of why this crisis persists. Wilkerson and Franklin are clear examples of officers who are part of the problem.
Sec. Hagel — Franklin’s actions undermined good order and discipline at Aviano and service wide. His actions are having a chilling effect on victims who might otherwise report being sexually assaulted. His letter, explaining his purported reasons for overturning the jury’s verdict, showed a disregard for the facts in the Aviano case, disdain for the officers of the court, his biases, and his compulsion to protect a fellow pilot, rather than serve justice.
Please stand with our brave men and women in uniform. Hold Franklin and Wilkerson accountable. Franklin and Wilkerson have failed our country and failed our young service members and civilians who work on bases around the world.
Remove Wilkerson for his past behavior, even outside of his conviction for aggravated sexual assault, and remove Franklin for a failure of leadership by undermining good order and discipline.”
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Stars & Stripes: Air Force to probe new allegations in sex assault case that roiled military justice system
http://www.stripes.com/news/
Protect Our Defenders petition Calling on Sec. Hagel to Remove Lt. Gen. Franklin and Lt. Col. Wilkerson: http://www.causes.com/aviano
CBS News: Transfer of Air Force officer accused of sex assault outrages alleged victim’s family
Dallas Morning News: Air Force officer, convicted of sexual assault, is assigned to victim’s hometown
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.
Stars & Stripes: Re-instated Air Force pilot Wilkerson assigned to Davis-Monthan
http://www.stripes.com/news/
Statement to Congress from Aviano Victim:
http://www.
New York Times: Hagel to Open Review of Sexual Assault Case
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/
Wired Magazine: Air Force’s Accountability for Sexual Assault: Not Promoting Convicted Officer
http://www.wired.com/
NBC News: Civil Rights Commission urged to order audit of military sex-assault cases
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders is a human rights organization. We seek to honor, support and give voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been sexually assaulted while serving their country, and re-victimized by the military adjudication system – a system that often blames the victim and fails to prosecute the perpetrator. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/
Protect Our Defenders partners with Attorney Susan Burke, Burke PLLC to advance lawsuits filed against the DoD and service academies for repeatedly ignoring rape, sexual assault and harassment, failing to prosecute perpetrators and retaliating against the victim.
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