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Can a retired service member be charged for adultery after retirement? The act happened while in service. Evidence surfaced after retirement.
Military OneSource
UCMJ
Adultery
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 2
Short answer - It depends.
While rare, it does happen (prosecutions under UCMJ after retirement). There have even been cases where a retiree has been prosecuted under UCMJ for an offense committed after they left the service.
However, prosecution for adultery? That would probably be a bridge to far if that is the only charge. Murder, sexual assult and child pornography are some of the instances that people have been charged under UCMJ after they retired ... but adultery?
Also, it depends on HOW you retired.
The courts have gone back and forth with this, but the Supreme Court has let stand convictions that have occurred.
While rare, it does happen (prosecutions under UCMJ after retirement). There have even been cases where a retiree has been prosecuted under UCMJ for an offense committed after they left the service.
However, prosecution for adultery? That would probably be a bridge to far if that is the only charge. Murder, sexual assult and child pornography are some of the instances that people have been charged under UCMJ after they retired ... but adultery?
Also, it depends on HOW you retired.
The courts have gone back and forth with this, but the Supreme Court has let stand convictions that have occurred.
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MSG (Join to see)
Sir, you were not losing your mind nor did RP eat your response. I closed and converted the two as per your request.
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(reposting comment from duplicate thread)
So your friend is married to a guy who retired and she found out later he was committing adultery while he was on AD? Retired Service Members have been recalled to Active Duty to be brought in front of the court for serious legal proceedings but I don't know of a case where this happened regarding Adultery. If she is serious about it she should contact someone from base legal for a consultation. I don't know if they will pursue it though. Adultery isn't a court marshal level offense. It is normally handled at the Battalion level from my observation and experience.
So your friend is married to a guy who retired and she found out later he was committing adultery while he was on AD? Retired Service Members have been recalled to Active Duty to be brought in front of the court for serious legal proceedings but I don't know of a case where this happened regarding Adultery. If she is serious about it she should contact someone from base legal for a consultation. I don't know if they will pursue it though. Adultery isn't a court marshal level offense. It is normally handled at the Battalion level from my observation and experience.
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COL Randall C.
SSgt Christophe Murphy, actually it is - chapter 134 of UCMJ. However, it is rarely used in a court martial except as an additional charge (for instance, as in the cases of BG Sinclair or COL Caughey).
The Military Justice Act in 2016 (which went into effect 1 JAN 18) did change the charge a bit (expanded what acts are considered adulterous and included same-sex couples) and also tightened the scope (if you're legally separated, you don't need to fear being prosecuted).
The main reason it's not usually charged is that the third element of the crime (conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline or of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces) is subjective and often hard to prove to a jury (that is, when it's not a clear-cut case .. i.e., a senior officer having an affair with a troop's spouse and such).
The Military Justice Act in 2016 (which went into effect 1 JAN 18) did change the charge a bit (expanded what acts are considered adulterous and included same-sex couples) and also tightened the scope (if you're legally separated, you don't need to fear being prosecuted).
The main reason it's not usually charged is that the third element of the crime (conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline or of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces) is subjective and often hard to prove to a jury (that is, when it's not a clear-cut case .. i.e., a senior officer having an affair with a troop's spouse and such).
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SSgt Christophe Murphy
COL Randall C. - Articles 133/134 are both very subjective, vague and broad. It serves as almost like a catch all and gotcha charge that gets popped on the end of other charges. It is definitely a death nail that may not cause jail time but it is certainly a career ender. I concur with your take. As I said in my earlier post, I never witnessed or heard testimony of a court martial on the single charge of Adultery. But there have been occasions where it was one of several charges which led to dishonorable, BCD or Court Martial. The same is for 133/134. They are added on when appropriate to stack the deck.
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PFC (Join to see)
SSgt Christophe Murphy legal said, it can only be resolved at BN level, if anything. That's insane after standing beside that man for over 18years through it all!
Thank you all for the feed back!
Thank you all for the feed back!
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SSgt Christophe Murphy
PFC (Join to see) I completely understand. Cheating on a spouse is a horrible act. But that being the case so don’t know if there is enough to achieve what you are pursuing.
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Looking at your grade I assume this is about someone else. The military can go after people of certain grades post service as long as they are retired. So yes they can and if they committed illegal acts they should be.
The idea is that if evidence came to light while serving they would never have retired if guilty. They will have their day in court, should the military pursue the case, to prove their innocense.
The idea is that if evidence came to light while serving they would never have retired if guilty. They will have their day in court, should the military pursue the case, to prove their innocense.
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