An Air Force Academy cadet was acquitted Saturday of a charge that he raped a fellow cadet three years ago.
A panel of seven officers dismissed the case against John Aguilar after conferring for about 25 minutes, the Air Force Academy said in a brief statement. A spokesman said the academy had no immediate comments on the outcome.
Aguilar, now a junior, was accused of raping a female cadet in his dorm room in October 2003, when they were students at the academy’s preparatory school.
At the trial, the woman testified that Aguilar invited her to watch a movie with him, and they began kissing each other and having consensual sex.
She said she was a virgin and the sex was uncomfortable, but “I was OK with that,” The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported. But when he lay on top of her in a position she found particularly painful, “I said, ‘No, that hurt, stop, we shouldn’t be doing this,”‘ and he resisted her efforts to push him off, she testified.
Aguilar previously was investigated for another rape allegation at the academy, according to trial testimony, and the other woman left the academy.
Aguilar’s defense lawyer, Gwendolyn Beitz, said the other woman recanted, and military records of the other investigation were not available.
Neither woman now attends the academy, which was criticized for its handling of other rape allegations in 2003.
By military law, Aguilar could have faced life in prison if convicted.
Staff writer David Olinger can be reached at 303-954-1498 or dolinger@denverpost.com.
