YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Staff Sgt. Nathaniel W. Pailen was sentenced Thursday to a bad-conduct discharge for having relationships with two junior soldiers.
A court-martial jury Wednesday found him not guilty of a charge he raped one of the soldiers in August, but guilty of two specifications of violating a lawful general regulation.
Pailen, an E-6 before the court-martial, also was reduced in rank to private, or E-1, and will forfeit all pay and allowances. He had faced a maximum punishment of four years’ confinement and a dishonorable discharge.
He testified that he had consensual sex with a private first class one night last August and that he stopped the intercourse when she pulled away and stated she had a boyfriend. In March, a second private first class — who Pailen said was his girlfriend — was discovered in his room during an early morning inspection.
Pailen opted for a court-martial in the March case, stating that many other noncommissioned officers were dating junior enlisted soldiers and it wasn’t a problem because she wasn’t in his chain of command.
When rumors began circulating throughout the unit about Pailen’s troubles, the woman he’d had sex with in August came forward and stated he had raped her.
She said she didn’t tell anyone for months because she was embarrassed.
Defense attorneys argued the woman feared that her relationship with the accused would come to light and she would get in trouble.
