Army Maj. Jonathan J. Batt has been accused of sexually assaulting 20 people over more than three years, said Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the US Army’s Office of Special Counsel.

Each of the military branches established its own office of special trial counsel from 2024 to prosecute serious crimes including domestic violence, sexual assault and murder.

On October 16, the Army Office of Special Prosecutors preferred 14 counts of rape, 20 counts of sexual assault, three counts of abusive sexual contact, 15 counts of aggravated assault by strangulation, one count of aggravated assault by suffocation, 22 counts of assault by battery and an obstruction of justice specification against Batt, McCaskill told Task & Purpose on Friday.

It is too early in the legal process for the Army’s Office of Special Counsel to provide Task & Purpose with a copy of Batt’s charge sheet, McCaskill said.

The alleged sexual assaults took place between Dec. 1, 2019, and Feb. 17, 2023, with most of the alleged crimes occurring in the Washington, D.C., area, McCaskill said.

“The first allegation made against Major Batt was reported to the Alexandria Police Department,” McCaskill said. “APD (Alexandria Police Department) notified the Army Criminal Investigation Department, which initiated a joint investigation. Further investigation by the CID revealed additional allegations involving multiple victims.”

Army Times first reported Thursday about the allegations against Batt.

The investigation is still open and anyone with information is encouraged to come forward contact CIDMcCaskill said.

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CID Special Agent Mark H. Lunardi provided Task & Purpose with a brief statement about the case: “This matter is under active investigation by Army CID, and therefore we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”

Although Batt was initially placed in custody, he was later released, McCaskill said.

“At a pretrial detention review hearing on November 1, a military judge ordered Major Batt’s release from custody after determining that the government had failed to demonstrate that lesser forms of restraint were inadequate to protect the community and ensure the presence of the major Batt at trial,” McCaskill said. “As charges were preferred in this case, Major Batt obeyed all orders of his commanding officer.”

Batt is currently assigned to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., McCaskill said. His preliminary hearing was held on October 30 at Fort McNair in Washington DC, and on November 4, the preliminary hearing officer recommended that the charges against Batt be referred to a general court-martial.

The Army’s Office of Special Counsel will now determine whether to file charges, McCaskill said. If that happens, Batt will be arraigned before a military judge, who will set a trial date.

Batt is represented by attorney Nathan Freeburg of the law firm Cave & Freeburg LLP,” said Phil Cave, a spokesman for Batt’s defense team.

“Now that the Article 32 hearing has been completed, we expect a referral decision shortly,” Cave told Task & Purpose on Friday. “There will be no further comments at this time.”

Batt has served as an infantry officer since May 2007 and is currently assigned to the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center in Crystal City, Virginia, according to the Army. He carried out four deployments in Afghanistan: From August 2009 to August 2010; from June 2019 to August 2019; from October 2019 to December 2019; and from March 2020 to May 2020.

His previous assignments included service with the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg – now Fort Liberty – North Carolina from September 2008 to July 2011; and with the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning – now Fort Moore – in Georgia from May 2019 to June 2020.

Batt’s military awards include two Bronze Star Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, seven Army Achievement Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, the Global War on Terrorism Service Army Service Ribbon. , Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal and Valorous Unit Award.

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