A male sergeant stationed at Fort Hood military base is currently on trial for using a prostitution ring allegedly started by a fellow officer. The women in this ring were apparently fellow female soldiers who were struggling with their finances, and were approached through an Army sexual assault and harassment prevention program.
The Austin-American Statesman reports that new details of the case have been revealed in an odd way; Master Sgt. Brad Grimes is on trial for allegedly using the service. The case started when this unnamed individual Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen began to be investigated by the army earlier this year.
Grimes' defense attorney denies that the soldier actually paid to have sex with anyone, arguing that "this is really a case about sex parties." Via TPM:
Conway asked Col. Gregory Gross, the military judge presiding over the trial, to throw out the case against Grimes. He argued that the Army high command and top federal officials, including President Barack Obama, had biased the process by pressing for prosecutions over military sexual assault allegations.
While details right now are slim, more are sure to come out of this bizarre case soon.
Fort Hood prostitution trial begins [Statesman]
Image via Mark Scovell, Fort Hood DPTMS-V/Fort Hood/Flickr