General sexually assaulted me twice, woman testifies

Incidents followed misgivings about affair, she claims.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army captain at the center of one of the military’s most closely watched sexual-assault cases testified Friday that a general sexually assaulted her twice during their three-year, illicit affair.

Taking the stand on the first day of Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair’s court-martial, the woman said the assaults happened in Afghanistan in late 2011 as she grew increasingly despondent over their adulterous relationship.

Sinclair, the 51-year-old former deputy commander of the storied 82nd Airborne Division, is believed to be the highest-ranking U.S. military officer ever court-martialed on sexual assault charges. He could get life in prison if found guilty.

The trial is unfolding with the Pentagon under heavy pressure to confront rape and other sexual misconduct in the ranks that even the military has called epidemic.

Sinclair’s accuser testified that the first assault took place in her office in Kandahar when she told Sinclair how she hated her life, hated working for him and believed the general was just using her for sex. She said the second assault took place in his office after she asked him to move her to another job.

Asked why she did not come forward and report the two episodes until March 2012, she said: “I knew if I said anything, it would be my word against his and no one would believe me. I had no way out.”

Earlier Friday, she testified in detail about how the affair developed, and said Sinclair threatened to kill her and her family — and “do it in a way no one would ever know” — if she ever told anyone about their relationship.

She was given immunity in exchange for her testimony. Adultery is a crime under military law.

In opening statements, prosecutor Lt. Col. Robert Stelle painted Sinclair as a man who used his authority to intimidate and coerce a female officer nearly 20 years his junior into sex.

Defense lawyers portrayed Sinclair as the victim of a desperately infatuated woman who became angry when she discovered that another woman had sent the general an email that closed with “I love you.”

The defense also contends Sinclair is the target of overzealous prosecutors under political pressure to make an example of him, despite weak evidence and an accuser with a history of telling lies.

Defense attorney Ellen Brotman began her opening statement by reading the jury — composed of five two-star generals — excerpts from the woman’s diary, written during the affair.

Even after he was alleged to have threatened to kill her loved ones, she wrote of her desire for him, Brotman said, and the only fear she expressed was that he might still love his wife.

“I’m so in love with him,” Brotman read from the diary. “I do know that I love him incredibly.”

The woman and Sinclair exchanged thousands of text messages, often sexually explicit, according to the defense.