U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell sentenced Joseph S. Martin, 20, of Peoria, Ariz., to 96 months in prison, and Christopher J. Heikkila, 21, a U.S. citizen previously residing in Weilerbach, Germany, to 84 months in prison for the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in Landstuhl, Germany, in October 2013.
In September 2015, a jury convicted the men of one count of sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact each.
According to the evidence presented at trial, on or about Oct. 19, 2013, Martin and Heikkila sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl in Landstuhl while she was incapacitated after they had used social media to specifically target the victim and plan the assault. At the time, Martin and Heikkila were employees of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service on Ramstein Air Force Base in Ramstein, Germany, as well as dependents of civilian employees of the military, according to trial evidence. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act gives U.S. federal courts jurisdiction over felonies committed abroad by certain persons employed by or accompanying the U.S. military.
The Army CID and the FBI’s Phoenix Division and Washington Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph E. Koehler of the District of Arizona and Senior Trial Attorneys Christine Duey and Michael Sheckels of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) prosecuted the case. HRSP Special Counsel Stacey Luck provided substantial assistance.