Airman Who Said She Was Raped in Iraq Is Sentenced

An Air Force senior airman who said she was raped while on duty in Iraq has received a bad-conduct discharge and eight months in confinement after she pleaded guilty to several charges, including drug use.

The 25-year-old woman was sentenced Wednesday by an Air Force judge after a court-martial. She had pleaded guilty to possession and use of cocaine, obstruction of justice and being absent without leave, a lesser offense than desertion.

The woman apologized to the court and said she had used drugs to cope with the rape.

The woman had been in the military less than two years when she volunteered to deploy to Iraq in July 2003. Seven months after her return in December 2003, she told authorities she had been raped while serving at Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq.

The military has declined to comment on the investigation into the allegations, but the woman’s mother said no charges were filed because her daughter could not identify her assailant when investigators showed her a photo lineup of soldiers.

In October, the woman went absent without leave for 10 days. She was found to be using cocaine.