Cadets testify they found passed-out woman partially unclothed

Air Force Academy cadet Stephen Colangelo said he heard the lock on a dorm room “click” on Nov. 4.

He banged on the door and after about a minute, Cadet Stephan Claxton opened it. That’s when Colangelo and other cadets said they saw a passed-out woman who may have been sexually assaulted.

Military prosecutors focused on the events of that night during a hearing Thursday to determine whether Claxton, a junior, will be tried on suspicion of abusive sexual contact, wrongful sexual contact, assault and underage drinking. A prosecutor alluded to three possible victims, but Claxton’s formal charges involve two.

The proceeding — officially known as an Article 32 hearing — will continue today. A decision on whether Claxton will face a court-martial might not come for several weeks.

Claxton is one of three cadets  charged late last year in connection with sexual assaults dating to 2010.

Prosecutors allege Cadet Kyle A. Cressy had sex with a woman in May who was “substantially incapacitated,” while Cadet Robert M. Evenson Jr. is suspected of forcibly raping another cadet in spring 2010. Cressy and Evenson have yet to face similar hearings.

On Thursday, military prosecutors focused on two   incidents that happened eight months apart in 2011.

A woman testified that Claxton crept beside her while she slept in March and placed her hand on his genitals. The incident happened after a night of drinking in the dorms.

The woman said she pulled her hand away and left the room with another cadet. She filed a confidential report — one where military investigators aren’t notified — about a week later.

“I didn’t want anybody to get in trouble,” the woman said. The Gazette typically does not print the names of sexual assault victims.

Her report was confidential until November, when academy officials were notified of a second suspected sexual assault.

Cadet Eric Thomas testified that the second assault allegedly happened after a night of drinking.

Thomas, Colangelo, Claxton and several other cadets were drinking and partying in Colorado Springs when Thomas said he noticed a woman, a former cadet, was extremely drunk.

None of the cadets knew where she lived, so they brought her back to the dorms, Thomas said. After placing her on a bed, Thomas said he and other cadets left the room.

A few minutes later, Colangelo said he asked Thomas why the door was locked.

Colangelo testified to Lt. Col. Rhonda Bershok — who presided over the hearing — that he and Cadet David Burns banged on the door.

Colangelo said when Claxton opened the door, he and his friends found the woman with her pants unzipped and her shirt pulled up.

Moments later, Claxton punched Burns in the face, yelling “I’m not a rapist. I’m not a rapist,” Thomas said.

The cadets reported the incident to their superiors that night