Army Maj. Jonathan J. Batt could face a court-martial on charges that include rape, assault and obstruction of justice, according to service officials. (US Air Force photo)

A Virginia Army commander is facing charges of sex crimes against at least 20 victims over a three-year period, the service’s Office of Special Counsel announced Friday.

An Army lawyer issued a recommendation Monday that Maj. Jonathan J. Batt face a court-martial on charges that include rape, assault and obstruction of justice, said Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Office of Special Counsel. The office will soon determine whether the case will proceed to a court-martial, she said.

The charges include 76 counts of wrongdoing, ranging from rape to sexual assault, battery and obstructing an investigation, McCaskill said. The Army brought the charges on Oct. 16, and the service’s Criminal Investigations Division described the investigation Friday as open and ongoing.

Batt is a 2007 graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, NY. He was commissioned as an infantry officer and served with the 82nd Airborne Division, 5th Ranger Training Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, 75th Ranger Regiment and 3rd Infantry. Regiment, according to service records. He has served at least four combat tours in Afghanistan and was most recently assigned to the Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center in Crystal City in northern Virginia.

Officials said Friday that Batt had been taken into custody.

Army officials declined to provide specific details about the case against Batt, including charging documents and court records. The Office of the Special Trial Council said Friday that people with knowledge of the case should report information to the Army’s CID.

McCaskill said Batt was “charged with 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 consumed by a battery. , and one count of obstruction of justice.” She said the attacks took place between December 1, 2019 and February 17, 2023.

Most of the attacks took place in the Washington, DC area, she said. The case was first reported to civilian police in Alexandria, Va., who referred the case to CID, McCaskill said. CID agents later located additional victims who reported being assaulted by Batt.

Batt’s civil attorney, Nathan Freeburg, declined to comment on the case Friday through his law partner, Phil Cave.

The Office of Special Counsel for Trial was established by the military last year after Congress mandated the military to develop independent offices to prosecute certain felony-level crimes, including sexual assault. McCaskill said Batt would be arraigned and his case assigned to a military judge if the office refers the charges to a general court-martial. She did not say when such a decision might be made.