Court Martial Attorney - Serial AF Rapist Case Under Review
by Bryan Mitchell
The conviction of an airman who admitted sexually assaulting more than a dozen men -sodomizing at least three victims — over a two-year period is currently being reviewed by the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.
George W. Gatto assaulted his victims — the majority fellow airmen — after they were incapacitated from alcohol or drugs and often recorded the attacks with pictures and video.
Gatto pleaded guilty in a court martial last year at Dover Air Force Base, Del., after an Air Force Office of Special Investigations probe revealed Gatto as one of the military’s most prolific sex predators in recent history.
The disgraced airman is currently housed the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., serving a 40-year sentence while his case is reviewed by the appeals court.
The Air Force is no stranger to unusual or lurid sexual assault cases. About the same time Gatto was in the midst of his assault spree, an Air Force jury in February 2007 convicted Eglin Air Force Base Capt. Devery L. Taylor of drugging and raping four men.
Taylor’s case drew national headlines, but Air Force courtrooms across the country and the world regularly host sex crimes cases involving allegations of rape, sexual assault and possession of child pornography.
But few are as shocking as Gatto’s case.
Little is known about the sexual predator as the Air Force is not required to release home of record, deployment history or age.
Gatto enlisted on Aug. 10, 2004 and was serving as an airman first class airfield systems apprentice with Dover’s 436th Communications Squadron before he was convicted last April. He had acquired five Air Force decorations during his short tenure, including the Good Conduct Medal.
The case — extraordinary for its length and breadth — is also shrouded in uncertainty. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations declined an interview request while the military prosecutor who handled the case at Dover Air Force Base has since left the installation.
Based on a four-page charge sheet provided by the Air Force as well as information provided by the Defense Department’s Inspector General, Gatto was at one point under investigation for the sexual assault of 13 adult men over two years at two Air Force bases.
Many if not all of the incidents occurred while the victims were unconscious from alcohol or drugs and an unknown number were recorded via digital photographs and videos.
It’s unclear if Gatto deliberately drugged his victims as that’s not listed in the court documents provided by the Air Force.
The string of assaults began at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., around May 2005 when Gatto committed sodomy and sexual assault by undressing his victim and fondling him while he was unconscious, according to court records.
He transferred to Dover in the fall of 2005 and immediately continued his attacks. His charges sheet lists two counts of sodomy between August and October of 2005.
Over the next two years, he assaulted more than a dozen men across Dover Air Force Base, cutting their clothes off after they had passed out and engaging in various acts of sexual assault.
The court documents fail to include where the incidents occurred.
It’s also unclear how this string of vicious assaults persisted for two years without victims coming forward. The AFOSI said the investigation began after agents found child pornography images on his cellular phone.
Charges for possession of child pornography, however, are not included in the charge-sheet.
The case remains under appellate review.
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States. military-defense-lawyer-recentcases.htm.
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