General Accused of Sexual Assault to Begin Court-Martial on March 3

For Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, the world is probably melting in a slow, Dali-like nightmare. As it should if any of his many alleged crimes are true.

The 51-year-old General, whose case Jezebel began following in 2012, is accused of a laundry list of sexual assault charges, including forcible sodomy, which have stalled his rising career. Sinclair’s court-martial is slated to begin on March 3 and he faces a sentence of life in prison.

The main allegations stem from a three-year extramarital affair he had with a subordinate junior officer. Last year she testified that despite his physical and emotional abuse, like ending arguments by forcing her to perform oral sex through her sobs, she continued to love and sleep with Sinclair.

“In a (expletive) up way I still love him,” she said in court, avoiding Sinclair’s gaze as he sat nearby at the defense table. “I don’t want him to be upset with me.”

When the woman tried to leave him, she said he threatened to kill her and her family. Prosecutors also claim that Sinclair was verbally abusive and acted inappropriately with other female officers too, requesting nude photos of the women.

On the other hand, the defense claim that Sinclair is actually a victim of bad timing, you know, that President Obama and his pesky pledge to rid the military of sexual assault. Sinclair’s alleged female victim is just a jilted lover who got crazy when the married man said he wouldn’t leave his wife and family for her, and if this had all come out earlier, the General would’ve just gotten a “quiet reprimand and early retirement.” Why so serious, guys?

Sinclair, originally represented by court-appointed military lawyers, fired those guys and picked up hot shot civilian attorneys who specialize in white collar crime. He’s also hired a New York City publicity firm to tell the public that we need him on that wall and to discredit his lead accuser. Classy. While he awaits his court-martial, Sinclair’s been assigned desk duty at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg.

Oh, and there’s more.

If there is any silver lining to their situation, Rebecca Sinclair said it is that her husband has been home to focus on being a dad. They have two school-aged sons.

“It has been a year for rebuilding,” she said. “Whenever your husband says those words to you that no wife wants to hear, it’s painful. But we make our choices and decide what is most important to us. We’re working on our marriage and trying to get through this.”

Not that I know much about Sinclair’s personality or family life outside of what’s been reported but the situation does remind me of R. Kelly’s court trial, when he suddenly introduced a loving wife and family, implicitly nudging ever so conveniently, “How could he be a sexual predator? He’s married, people!” We see how that turned out.