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FOX San Antonio - FOLLOW UP STORIES
Convicted Air Force Instructor Gets Twenty Years -- Robert Price
Twenty years behind bars. That's the sentence for an air force training instructor found guilty of sexually assaulting female trainees.
Staff Sergeant Luis Walker could have been sentenced to life without parole. But after hearing testimony from Walker's family and several of his victims, the jury of six men and one woman opted for a lighter sentence.
The Air Force says the 26-year-old is a sexual predator who used his power as a training instructor at Lackland Air Force Base to assault ten trainees.
"We need a safe, secure training environment,” said Air Force spokesperson Colonel Polly Kenny. “Unfortunately, for the ten victims, that was not the case."
Before sentencing, five of those victims gave emotional testimony about the personal and professional toll of walker's abuse.
One woman spoke of breaking off an engagement.
Others said they have trouble sleeping now, can no longer trust men, and regret joining the military.
The defense tried to paint Walker in a more sympathetic light through his wife, sister, and step-dad.
Prosecutors asked the jury to send a message with its punishment and give walker a forty-year sentence. Walker got half that, with the possibility of parole after six years.
Staff Sergeant Walker also received a dishonorable discharge.
Once he's released from prison, he'll have to register as a sex offender.
Investigators say at least thirty-one female trainees and twelve instructors are believed to be involved in this scandal.
Twenty years behind bars. That's the sentence for an air force training instructor found guilty of sexually assaulting female trainees.
Staff Sergeant Luis Walker could have been sentenced to life without parole. But after hearing testimony from Walker's family and several of his victims, the jury of six men and one woman opted for a lighter sentence.
The Air Force says the 26-year-old is a sexual predator who used his power as a training instructor at Lackland Air Force Base to assault ten trainees.
"We need a safe, secure training environment,” said Air Force spokesperson Colonel Polly Kenny. “Unfortunately, for the ten victims, that was not the case."
Before sentencing, five of those victims gave emotional testimony about the personal and professional toll of walker's abuse.
One woman spoke of breaking off an engagement.
Others said they have trouble sleeping now, can no longer trust men, and regret joining the military.
The defense tried to paint Walker in a more sympathetic light through his wife, sister, and step-dad.
Prosecutors asked the jury to send a message with its punishment and give walker a forty-year sentence. Walker got half that, with the possibility of parole after six years.
Staff Sergeant Walker also received a dishonorable discharge.
Once he's released from prison, he'll have to register as a sex offender.
Investigators say at least thirty-one female trainees and twelve instructors are believed to be involved in this scandal.
TEXAS NEWS
BRETT ZONGKER
June 19, 2013 23:09 GMT
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Houston's Astrodome stadium, New York's old Pan Am Worldport Terminal at Kennedy Airport and Montana's one-room schoolhouses are joining a list of the nation's most endangered historic places.
On Wednesday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is releasing its listing of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. It includes sites from Maine to Alaska.
The Astrodome was the world's first domed, air-conditioned stadium and was once called the "eighth wonder of the world." On Wednesday, a county board recommended converting the Astrodome into a giant convention center and exhibition space.
At New York's JFK Airport, the flying-saucer-shaped Worldport Terminal helped usher in the jet age in 1960 but has been vacated by Delta Air Lines and faces demolition.
A look at these two places, plus all the others on the list, through photos:
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