COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- A Columbus Air Force Base captain was convicted in a general court-martial Nov. 14.
The captain, a 14th Operations Group officer, was charged with violating article 128, assault consummated by battery, on five different occasions against his now ex-wife.
He was also charged with violating article 133, conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman for sending sexually explicit or pornographic videos and photos to a woman who was not his wife while deployed. The final charge was violating article 134, committing adultery, with the same woman he had been exchanging photographs with on three separate occasions.
In the end, the captain was found guilty of assaulting his wife on two out of the five occasions, of conduct un-becoming of an officer and a gentleman and of the adultery on three separate occasions.
He was sentenced to receive a reprimand, 60 days of restriction to the limits of the base and then dismissal from the Air Force, which is a punitive discharge equivalent to a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members.
The case was under investigation for eight months before the court martial began Nov. 12. The investigation began in March 2014, and an Article 32 hearing was conducted in May.
The military judge, Lt. Col. Joshua Kastenberg, found Moore guilty after careful deliberation, said Capt. L. Yasmeen Wells, 14th Flying Training Wing, prosecuting attorney for the court martial.
“You have a right to a trial by yours peers; in this case (the accused) decided he wanted to forgo that right and have the military judge alone decide whether or not he was guilty and render a sentence,” Wells said.
Wells said she thought about the woman the captain committed adultery with, who did not know until the investigation, he was married. For two years they communicated with each other and were romantically intimate. The relationship got to the point where the woman believed Moore was everything she ever wanted. During the trial the woman testified that it was conduct she would have never expected of a married Air Force man.
“Her trust and image of the Air Force was tainted, however allowing her the opportunity to take part in the trial sent the message that the Air Force does not tolerate that type of misconduct and he would be held accountable for his crimes,” Wells said. “I think we take for granted sometimes what the public sees when we put on this uniform. They see us in a certain light, and regardless of whether we want to or not, we are in a fishbowl and we will not just be judged as individuals by our behavior, but the Air Force as a whole.”