European edition, Friday, June 1, 2007
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany — An Air Force staff sergeant testified during a rape trial on Thursday she pretended to be asleep while a male and female airman had sex with her because she was afraid to stop them.
The noncommissioned officer told jury members during the court-martial she was not a willing participant in a threesome with the two airmen last year but didn’t resist because she was gripped by fear and too drunk to defend herself.
She testified Airman Christopher Hicks raped her after Airman 1st Class Ashley Rains performed a sex act on her.
“I had no idea why they were doing that and what to do about it,†she said during the trial. Stars and Stripes is not releasing the staff sergeant’s name because she is the alleged victim in the case.
Hicks, a member of the 52nd Civil Engineering Squadron, pleaded not guilty to rape on Wednesday. Rains, a life support specialist with the 22nd Fighter Squadron, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of indecent acts at a separate trial last week.
The three airmen met on a night out Sept. 23 in the village of Speicher at a pair of adjacent bars known among airmen as the “Speicher pubs.â€
The staff sergeant, a married mother of two, said her husband encouraged her to go out alone that night after her friend backed out of plans to party together at the last minute.
Although her friend wanted to stay in that night, she allowed the staff sergeant to park at her house and sleep over because it is only two blocks from the pubs.
The friend loaned her house key to the staff sergeant with the stipulation that she would return by 5 a.m.
That evening and part of the next morning, the staff sergeant said she drank between 10 and 20 drinks and doesn’t remember all of the details.
At the bar, the staff sergeant told the court, she drank vodka and Red Bulls, and met Rains and Hicks. At some point, Rains testified on Thursday she invited the staff sergeant to go back to Hicks’ apartment in Bitburg.
When they got to his place, the staff sergeant threw up in the bathroom and later went to sleep in Hicks’ room. At some point, Rains said she got tired and also crawled into bed next to the staff sergeant.
Minutes later, Rains said Hicks entered the room and the two began kissing. Rains testified that Hicks told her that the staff sergeant had taken off her skirt and panties and “wanted it.†That’s when Rains and Hicks began having sex with her.
When asked if she thought the staff sergeant consented, Rains said she did at the time. She told the court earlier in her testimony that the staff sergeant made “tired moans.â€
The staff sergeant testified she woke up at the time, but pretended to be asleep because she was scared of what they might do. She did not elaborate. Although she never said she wanted nor asked to be a part of a threesome at any time during the night, she admitted she did nothing to stop either Rains or Hicks. She added that neither Rains nor Hicks threatened her.
“I wasn’t thinking rationally,†she said. “I was afraid and I was confused.â€
Later that morning, Hicks drove the staff sergeant back to her friend’s house so she could drop off the key. She later told what happened to her husband, who reported the incident.
The court case will continue on Friday.
