Three senior Army officers who faced charges related to sexual offenses in separate and unrelated cases all received reprimands through plea deals within the past two months.
The officers were all lieutenant colonels. One hid cameras in changing rooms used by teen girls; another allegedly had sex with a trainee and tried to move on another in a public bathroom; and another commander frequently sexually harassed a subordinate and allegedly struck another officer.
The outcomes of the cases and relatively light sentences for the offenses may underscore a widely held perception in the Army that higher-ranking officials can more easily navigate the service’s judicial system and are more likely to emerge with their criminal records free of blemishes.
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Reprimands are punitive public censures and among the least severe judicial punishments in the military. While they can be career-killers, reprimands do not automatically impact a discharge status — meaning someone can retire with all their benefits and pay intact, all while having a clean criminal record as far as the civilian world is concerned.
Lt. Col. Mark Patterson, who was commander of the 941st Military Police Battalion while it was on a mission at the southern U.S. border, was convicted by a military judge in January — following a plea deal — of one specification…
