US Army to Court Martial it's General in a rare case
Shares
The U.S. Army will do something this weekend it has done only four other times since the Truman administration: drag a general into a military courtroom to face criminal charges.
James Grazioplene, 68, a retired major general from Gainesville, Virginia, is being court-martialed on charges that he raped a child over a six-year period while he was on active duty in the 1980s, according to Army officials and court documents.
It is extremely rare for senior military officers to face court-martial proceedings. The Air Force has never court-martialed a general. The Navy has court-martialed just one admiral since the end of World War II, although two others have been prosecuted recently in federal court for civilian offenses as part of an epic corruption scandal.
The Army will hold a probable cause hearing this weekend at Fort Meade, Maryland, to review evidence against Grazioplene. In April, the service announced in a terse statement that it had charged the retired general with six counts of rape of a minor, but disclosed no other details. Army officials have declined to answer questions about the case since then.
James Grazioplene, 68, a retired major general from Gainesville, Virginia, is being court-martialed on charges that he raped a child over a six-year period while he was on active duty in the 1980s, according to Army officials and court documents.
It is extremely rare for senior military officers to face court-martial proceedings. The Air Force has never court-martialed a general. The Navy has court-martialed just one admiral since the end of World War II, although two others have been prosecuted recently in federal court for civilian offenses as part of an epic corruption scandal.
The Army will hold a probable cause hearing this weekend at Fort Meade, Maryland, to review evidence against Grazioplene. In April, the service announced in a terse statement that it had charged the retired general with six counts of rape of a minor, but disclosed no other details. Army officials have declined to answer questions about the case since then.
