Posted on October 10, 2011

Former Midshipman Sentenced to Six Months in Military Prison for Rape of Classmate

Childs Walker, Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2011

A former Naval Academy midshipman was sentenced to six months in military prison and dismissed from the Navy on Thursday after he was convicted of raping a female classmate.

Midshipman 3rd Class Patrick Edmond, 20, was found guilty of raping the female midshipman in her dorm room last October and of lying to military officials. The native of Jackson, Miss., was dismissed from the academy after a seven-member military panel handed down its verdict. He was attending classes at the academy until the conviction.

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The court-martial for sexual assault was the first at the academy since 2008. The institution endured a series of high-profile assault cases in the mid-2000s and, in response, bolstered programs to promote awareness and to train midshipmen on how to report sex-related crimes.

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Prosecutors said Edmond exploited a previous romance with the female midshipman to trap her and force her into sex. Defense attorneys, by contrast, portrayed the sex as consensual.

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Jackson R. Breland, Jackson Free Press, April 29, 2011

In a bustling Jim Hill High School hallway, students are yelping and shouting to one another joyfully, but one student remains unfazed by the exuberance.

Patrick Edmond, a senior at Jim Hill, is focused on the present, and even more focused on the future.

“My long-term goal is to be commander-in-chief of the United States of America,” Edmond says.

To many, this goal may seem overreaching for a teenager, but Edmond is no ordinary high school student. Edmond recently won the 2009 Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Cadet of the Year award in the Jackson Public School District.

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As the top cadet in a field of 2,000 students from all eight JPS high schools, Edmond serves as brigade commander. On March 31, Edmond led the JPS JROTC in a series of exercises inside the Provine High School gym.

“I truly cannot imagine my life without the JROTC program. Before joining, I had low self-esteem. I never looked forward to anything in school. Since then, I have gained self-confidence,” Edmond says.

{snip} Twenty-eight colleges and universities have accepted Edmond to attend their schools. Edmond has also received an astounding $2.1 million in scholarship offers. Although it was a difficult decision, Edmond has chosen to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., starting this fall.

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Edmond plans to major in physics and minor in Spanish. After serving in the Navy for several years, Edmond hopes to become a Spanish professor on the collegiate level.

“Teachers solidify your success in any endeavor,” Edmond says. Whether Edmond ends up in a classroom or the Oval Office, expect him to be successful.