Jury set to deliberate in male rape trial

By Melissa Nelson - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 27, 2007 10:23:44 EST

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — An Air Force captain on trial for raping four men and attempting to rape two others only committed a crime of being gay in the military and violating the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy,” a defense attorney told a military jury during closing arguments Monday.

Four of the men had consensual sex with Capt. Devery L. Taylor and lied to protect their military careers while a fifth wanted to join the Navy and feared being identified as gay, said Devery’s attorney, Martin Regan. A sixth man, who is openly gay, forced Taylor to have sex with him, but later told investigators he was raped because he feared being charged with rape himself, Regan said.

Taylor, 38, is charged with two counts of attempted sodomy, four counts of forcible sodomy, three counts of kidnapping and one count of unlawful entry. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of all the charges against him.

“[Taylor] is a homosexual, you can take that into the jury room,” Regan said. “My client is an admitted homosexual involved in consensual homosexual relationships and let’s let the military deal with it in the right forum, not in a court-martial.”

Military prosecutor Maj. Kathleen Reder described Taylor as a serial rapist who drugged his victims and then attacked them while incapacitated.

Testimony from the alleged victims that included similar stories were “the heart of this case that makes each of these individual’s experiences one man’s story,” Reder said.

Evidence that showed the men were afraid of Taylor included a 911 call placed by an Air Force sergeant who ran from Taylor’s home and told authorities he felt drugged and feared Taylor was going to rape him, and a report to military investigators by an Air Force captain of a similar incident, Reder said.

“Being known to the world as a male rape victim is not fun. If they are concerned about their military careers, why say anything?” Reder said.

One of Taylor’s alleged victims testified Monday that he is a gay but never had consensual sex with Taylor. The man said he and Taylor traveled to New Orleans, Mobile and Pensacola and shared hotels.

A second alleged victim, a married Air Force captain, testified that Taylor drugged and raped him. He said he met Taylor during a night of heavy drinking and that Taylor offered him a ride. He said he cannot remember many events from the night because he was heavily intoxicated and felt drugged.

When Regan asked the man if he reported to the military that he was raped, he said no.

The nine-member military jury was scheduled to begin deliberations Tuesday.

A second man, Radoslaw Czaban, 38, of Okaloosa Island, was accused of helping Taylor commit an alleged rape of one of the victims March 23. Czaban is scheduled to be tried March 19 for sexual battery and false imprisonment.

Ellie