Marine charged with rape

[thedrifter]

Marine charged with rape

The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Feb 2, 2007 14:13:22 EST

HANFORD, Calif. — A Marine who claimed he suffered from stress after being ordered to photograph Iraqi corpses following an alleged massacre by U.S. forces was charged with rape, stealing more than $3,000 in government property and trying to mail guns from Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 22, was also charged with other violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including a rule against having a woman stay in his Camp Pendleton bedroom overnight, said 1st Lt. Esteban T. Vickers.

They are the latest charges for Briones, who last year pleaded guilty to stealing a truck that he crashed into a house in this San Joaquin Valley city about midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Briones’ family said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after helping remove the bodies of 24 Iraqi citizens allegedly killed by Marines in 2005. Briones is being treated unfairly by the military for speaking out, said Roel Briones, the Marine’s father.

The charges Briones is facing stem from alleged misconduct not connected to the Haditha incident, Vickers said Thursday.

The Marines Corps accuses Briones of raping a nonmilitary person in the Camp Pendleton area last year and of stealing optical equipment from the U.S. government worth about $3,820, Vickers said.

Briones is being held in Wasco State Prison, where he was sent for evaluation after the auto theft plea, Kings County Superior Court prosecutor Adam Nelson said.

Briones faces up to three years in prison for the auto theft charge when he is sentenced March 2.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine who saw Haditha carnage accused of rape and stealing government property
By Associated Press
Friday, February 2, 2007 - Updated: 07:03 PM EST

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine who has spoken publicly about a massacre allegedly committed by his unit in Iraq has been charged with rape, stealing government property and trying to mail guns from Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 22, was charged by the military last week. He is accused of raping a nonmilitary person in the Camp Pendleton area last year and of stealing optical equipment worth about $3,820 in Iraq.

Briones’ family said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after following orders to photograph and help remove the bodies of 24 Iraqi men, women and children who were slain in November 2005 in Haditha.

He has said he did not witness the killings, which occurred after a fellow Marine and friend of his was killed.

Briones is also charged with wrongfully trying to mail two guns from Iraq.

He pleaded guilty last year in civilian court to stealing a truck and crashing it into a house in his hometown of Hanford, Calif. He could get up to three years in prison for the theft when he is sentenced March 2.

The Marine’s father, Roel Briones, told The Fresno Bee he believes his son is being treated unfairly by the military for speaking out.

Camp Pendleton spokesman 1st Lt. Esteban T. Vickers said the charges and the Haditha incident are unrelated.

Four other enlisted Camp Pendleton Marines have been charged with unpremeditated murder, and four officers are charged with failing to properly report the Haditha killings, the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war.

The Marines’ lawyers have said the troops were responding with legitimate force after a roadside bomb killed one of their squad.

Ellie