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Air Force Cadet Sentenced To 6 Years Behind Bars For Sexual Assault

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) -- Air Force Academy Cadet Justin D. Zimmerman was sentenced to six years of confinement, dismissed from the Air Force, and ordered to surrender all pay at the conclusion of a court martial over the weekend.

Cadet Zimmerman was convicted of three charges: sexual assault, sexual abuse of a child, and providing alcohol to a minor.

According to a charging document obtained by CBS4, the charges stemmed from separate sexual encounters Zimmerman had with females in Colorado Springs and Keystone Village in October and November of 2018 and February and November of 2019.

One of the females was younger than 16 at the time of her contact with Zimmerman, according to the charging document.

Zimmerman was also accused of sexual assaulting a woman who was incapable of consenting due to alcohol consumption. That woman was also not of legal drinking age, the charging document stated.

Zimmerman's trial lasted a week. A panel of eight officers deliberated nearly five hours before handing down a guilty verdict on Saturday.

air force academy chapel
(credit: CBS)

Zimmerman will be housed at the Teller County Jail, an Air Force Academy spokesman said, until arrangements are made to transfer him to a military correctional facility.

Zimmerman's dismissal is classified as a punitive discharge.

 

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