A very decorated Army An officer accused of sexually assaulting 20 victims and facing more than 70 sexual assault charges was released from custody last week as his case begins to make its way through the military justice system.

A military judge ruled that “the government has not shown that lesser forms of restraint are inadequate to protect the community” as it works to bring its case against Maj. Jonathan Batt, who is assigned Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall on the outskirts of Washington, DC, an Army official told Military.com in an emailed statement.

Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Army’s Office of Special Counsel, said in an email that a preliminary hearing officer recommended Monday that the charges against Batt be court-martialed. It is now up to the office to decide whether to move forward with court-martial proceedings.

Read on: The Air Force chief of nuclear missile maintenance at Malmstrom was fired after the investigation

The allegations against Batt first came to light when an anonymous person made a complaint against the officer, who is currently assigned to the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center at the Alexandria Police Department in Virginia, the Army said in a statement without providing a date.

Alexandria police then notified the Army Criminal Investigation Division, which initiated a joint investigation that “revealed additional allegations involving multiple victims,” ​​McCaskill said.

Army Times was the first outlet to report the allegations.

Batt is accused of assaulting a total of 20 victims between Dec. 1, 2019, and Feb. 17, 2023, with most of the alleged crimes occurring in the Washington, DC area, according to the Army.

The US Army’s Office of Special Counsel began its pursuit of Batt on October 16, when it preferred three charges and 76 specifications against him.

Specifically, Batt is 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 aggravated assault by a battery and one count of obstruction of justice, according to McCaskill.

The office bringing the charges — the Office of the Special Trial Counsel — is a new entity that only came into being at the end of last year and is a congressionally mandated response to years of prosecution of sexual assault, domestic violence and other serious crimes by the military.

The bureau is responsible for making independent decisions about the prosecution of such serious crimes — an authority that had traditionally been held by commanders.

According to records provided by the military, Batt is an infantry officer who joined the service in May 2007.

During his career, he was assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 5th Ranger Training Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, 75th Ranger Regiment and 3rd Infantry Regiment.

He also deployed to Afghanistan four times and received two Bronze Star Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals and seven Army Achievement Medals, among other campaign and service awards.

He also earned the Ranger Badge, as well as the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Expert Infantryman Badge, among others.

Related: Navy reservist sentenced to prison over Afghan visa scheme

The story continues