Camp Humphreys is home to U.S. Forces Korea about 40 miles south of Seoul, South Korea. (Ash McLaughlin/U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A U.S. soldier was sentenced to 17 months in prison after a military jury convicted him of abusive sexual contact and assault involving a female soldier at this Army base 40 miles south of Seoul.
Spc. Antonio Pinero-Santana, a counterintelligence agent assigned to the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade at Camp Humphreys, was convicted April 30 following a four-day court-martial, according to an Army report published Friday.
Judge Mitchell Herniak also reduced Pinero-Santana’s rank to E-1 and ordered a bad-conduct discharge immediately after his conviction, according to the Army Court-Martial Public Record System.
Pinero-Santana, 29, made multiple “romantic overtures” over several months despite the woman rejecting his advances, Army prosecutors alleged.
On Dec. 8, 2024, he sent the woman an Instagram message asking to meet in person, according to the Army report.
Prosecutors said Pinero-Santana later went to her barracks room, where he began massaging her shoulders after she rebuffed his advances. The report said he then became aggressive, kissing and biting her lip and leaving bruises on her legs.
The woman eventually persuaded him to leave and later photographed her injuries before reporting the incident to her chain of command, according to the Army.
A panel of officers and enlisted service members convicted Pinero-Santana of abusive sexual contact and assault consummated by battery under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He was acquitted of one sexual assault charge, according to court records.
Details of the defense’s case were not included in the Army report. Pinero-Santana’s civilian defense attorney, Jeremiah Sullivan, could not be reached for comment outside normal business hours Tuesday.
The Army said evidence presented during the trial included Instagram messages, photographs of injuries, forensic examination results and testimony from the victim and unit leaders.
Pinero-Santana is being held at U.S. Army Regional Correctional Facility-Korea pending transfer to a military prison in the United States, according to the Army report.
Upon release, he will be required to register as a sex offender under state and federal laws.
Pinero-Santana’s actions are “unacceptable and in no way reflect the core values or culture of the U.S. Army,” Eighth Army spokesman Choi Jung-won said in an email Tuesday.
