Second alleged rape victim testifies in court-martial

Second alleged rape victim testifies in court-martial
By Sean Kimmons, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, December 4, 2007

RAF LAKENHEATH, England — The court-martial of a 48th Fighter Wing airman charged with raping two airmen in separate incidents a year apart continued Monday with testimony from the second alleged victim.

A 23-year-old airman testified that Airman Renato Sanchez del Carpio, from the 48th Dental Squadron, raped her in his dormitory room Oct. 4, 2006. Sanchez also faces a rape charge in the alleged assault of another airman in her dorm room following a night of partying on Oct. 28, 2005.

A seven-person jury — two women and five men — heard that the second alleged victim did not report her rape accusation until two weeks later when she was called in to the base’s Office of Special Investigations for a separate rape incident not related to this case, according to court testimony.

The woman told the court that she was afraid to talk to authorities following her alleged rape.

When questioned by OSI, the airman told agents that she was not raped. However, memories from that night in Sanchez’s dorm room resurfaced and she broke down crying, eventually telling her story to OSI agents, according to testimony.

“I started realizing that I needed to tell somebody what happened,” she testified.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50714