SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Marine was freed from confinement after a charge of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl was dropped under a plea agreement with military prosecutors that was announced Tuesday.
Avery L. Rosario left confinement at Camp Pendleton last week, U.S. Marine Corps officials said. He pleaded guilty to the remaining charge of breach of restriction for leaving base in a private vehicle in June 2023, the corps said in a statement Tuesday. Jocelyn Stewart, Rosario’s attorney, told NBC San Diego that the corps said the action violated a corps restriction placed on him for allegedly testing positive for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
Rosario already served more than twice the maximum one-month confinement outlined as punishment for such cases. A special court martial on Tuesday sentenced him to time served as well as to reduction of rank, forfeiture of some pay and administrative separation.
The latter means he will leave the corps in the summer as a fired U.S. Marine but not under the cloud of a dishonorable discharge. The separation will likely happen in the next 90 to 120 days, the corps said in its statement.
“There will be no further legal action taken within the military justice system,” the branch said Wednesday.
Rosario worked out the deal with military prosecutors on April 2 during a general court martial, leaving one charge remaining: the breach of restriction allegation, which was referred to the special court martial on Tuesday, the corps said. The sentence was also meted out Tuesday, according to the corps.
The charge of sexual assault on a minor was withdrawn. “PFC Rosario was accused of multiple counts of one sexual assault charge, all of which were dismissed,” the military branch said via email Wednesday.
Stewart said the commanding general “withdrew and dismissed” the charge because she discovered that prosecutors held back “exculpatory evidence” related to her own team’s discovery of the girl’s…
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