WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — An Air Force major general in Ohio
has been convicted by a military judge of one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact
in the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general.
The charge faced by Maj. Gen. William Cooley during the weeklong court-martial
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio had three specifications,
one alleging a forcible kiss and two alleging forcible touching in 2018.
Cooley was convicted Saturday of the forcible kissing specification but acquitted of the other two.
Officials said the verdict marks the first court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the Air Force’s 75-year history.
A former commander of Air Force Research Laboratory, Cooley was charged with abusive sexual contact in an encounter with a woman
who gave him a ride after a backyard barbecue in New Mexico nearly four years ago.
William Cooley