MAP Forum

“She has chosen not to provide a victim personal statement, and she wishes to move on from these matters.”

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Referring to the messages the defendants shared, the judge said: “You both referred to her in a disgraceful, indecent and misogynistic manner. She was a 17-year-old child and she was not deserving of that.”

The judge said the offence they were convicted of existed to protect children from being “groomed and exploited” by those in authority over them. She said: “There is such a power imbalance within those kind of relationships and it’s difficult for any child and young person to resist the intention of the responsible adult in the relationship.

“Power imbalance is exacerbated within the services, and service personnel are taught to follow the orders of those senior to them. In an instructional environment such as this, instructors set the tone for the rest of the recruit’s career. Instructors are looked upon as role models, mentors and their importance is very often elevated in the mind as well.

“Instructors may be the first positive role model some recruits have ever had. It’s not uncommon to hear that recruits may refer to their instructors as God, not in a religious sense, but in their minds of someone who embodies all that is good about their armed forces and that is all powerful. As far as they are concerned, instructors also hold the careers of the recruits in their hands as part of the decision-making process as to whether a recruit makes the grade or not comes from the instructors.

“For these reasons, we do consider that the abuse of trust is greater in our forces than it is in many other situations. Both in your own way preyed upon a vulnerable young recruit, a child. As instructors you were well aware of where the line was, and you both willingly stepped over that line for your own sexual interests.”

Two soldiers who were stationed at Fort Eustis in Newport News who used social media to solicit sexually explicit images from minors were sentenced on Thursday to prison sentences, according to the U.S. States Attorney's Office.

Isaiah Hood, 21, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the production of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). Hayden Carpenter, 23, was sentenced to 15 years after pleading guilty to coercion and enticement of a child.