Former Air Force Research Lab Commander Convicted In Historic Military Trial

A former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio has been found guilty of sexual assault.

Rome Labs is part of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Major General William Cooley was the first general in the history of the Air Force to be court-martialed and is now the first general-ranked officer to be convicted.

The Air Force Times says the verdict was reached by Colonel Christina Jimenez, the senior military judge in the case.

Cooley was convicted of making unwanted sexual advances by kissing a woman while off-duty in Albuquerque, New Mexico in August of 2018.

The woman was a civilian Air Force employee.

Cooley was found guilty off one count of sexual assault with the specification of kissing the woman for sexual gratification.

He was found not guilty of two additional specifications involving physical contact between the two parties.

Cooley had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The sentencing portion of the court martial began on Monday, with Cooley expected to be sentenced today.

Cooley faces dismissal from the military and up to seven years in prison.  He also faces a possible spot in the national sex offender database.

Cooley, who was commander of the Air Force Research Lab for nearly three years, was relieved of command in early 2020 during the investigation into the allegations against him.

The Information Directorate is the Air Force's and nation's premier research organization for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence and Cyber technologies.