A highly decorated Army officer who has been accused of sexually assaulting 20 victims and faces more than 70 sexual assault-related charges was released from pre-trial confinement last week as his case begins to make its way through the military justice system.
A military judge decided that "the government had not demonstrated that lesser forms of restraint were inadequate to protect the community" as it works to bring its case against Maj. Jonathan Batt, who is assigned to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., an Army official told Military.com in an emailed statement.
Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Army's Office of Special Trial Counsel, said in the email that a preliminary hearing officer recommended Monday that the charges against Batt be referred to court-martial. It is now up to the office to decide whether to move forward with the court-martial proceedings.
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The allegations against Batt first surfaced when an unnamed person made a complaint against the officer, who is currently assigned to the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, to the Alexandria Police Department in Virginia, the Army's statement said without offering a date.
Alexandria police then notified the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, which initiated a joint investigation that "revealed additional allegations involving multiple victims," McCaskill said.
Army Times was the first outlet to report the charges.
Batt is charged with assaulting a total of 20 victims between Dec. 1, 2019, and Feb. 17, 2023, with most of the alleged offenses occurring in the Washington, D.C., area, according to the Army.
The U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel kicked off Batt's prosecution Oct. 16 when it preferred three charges and 76 specifications against him.
Specifically, Batt is charged with 14 specifications of rape, 20 specifications of sexual assault, three specifications of abusive sexual contact, 15 specifications of aggravated assault by strangulation, one specification of aggravated assault by suffocation, 22 specifications of assault consummated by a battery, and one specification of obstructing justice, according to McCaskill.
The office that is bringing the charges -- the Office of the Special Trial Counsel -- is a new entity that came into being only late last year and is a congressionally mandated response to years of under-prosecution of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other serious offenses by the military.
The office is responsible for making independent decisions about prosecuting such serious offenses -- an authority that had traditionally been held by commanders.
According to records provided by the Army, Batt is an infantry officer who joined the service in May 2007.
Over the course of his career, he was assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 5th Ranger Training Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, 75th Ranger Regiment and 3rd Infantry Regiment.
He also deployed to Afghanistan four times and was awarded two Bronze Star Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, and seven Army Achievement Medals, among other campaign and service awards.
He has also earned the Ranger Tab, as well as the Combat Infantryman Badge and Expert Infantryman Badge, among others.
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