Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, the former chief of the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response branch, was acquitted of a sexual assault charge on Nov. 12. A seven-member jury, made up of five men and two women, deliberated for about an hour before reaching a verdict, reported WUSA9. “All I want to say is I love my kids,” said Krusinski after the two-day trial concluded Wednesday, according to the article. A 23-year-old woman testified on Nov. 12 that she felt “totally violated,” when Krusinski allegedly groped her outside an Arlington, Va., bar on May 5. She also admitted to hitting him in the face a few times after the alleged assault, reported the Associated Press, via the Huffington Post. A bar employee also testified on the first day that she saw Krusinski grab the buttocks of two employees, including herself. Defense attorney Barry Coburn, however, argued in his opening statements that inconsistencies in the witness accounts should add up to reasonable doubt, according to the article. Krusinski was removed from his DOD position following his arrest, but he remains in the Air Force. (See also Plague of Sexual Assaults)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.