imact of false sexual assualt allegation with full acquittal

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hi all,

looking for some help fr myself and anyone else that may ever come across this thread.

Nutshell - held DoD secret for 15 years. Was falsely accused of a sexual assault (2016). Was charged and prosecuted in a General Court-Martial and found not-guilty of all charges. (wasn’t based on a technicality or anything like that - full trial with not guilty findings)
Secret clearance was never suspended or revoked. (accuser was proven to be non-credible, multiple story changes, motivated to lie, was high on drugs (which i honestly didn’t even know about) and prosecutors had to sign a written admission that the alleged victim committed perjury on the stand during the trial.

Now offered Federal job as civ and will be completing a Public Trust.

Ive done a lot of research for mitigating the concerns over this. From what I’ve read, not guilty findings do not equal - did nothing wrong for security clearances, and that if there’s substantiated charges that evidence may have to be produced to prove innocence.

other than that i had a speeding ticket under $150 and a bankruptcy 3 years ago as part of a divorce agreement

Does anyone have any experience with this as far as adjudications are concerned? the only mitigation that applies is the acquittal, but how do I prove to the investigators I didnt actually do it??

FYI - since 2013 when a 3 star AF General threw a pilot’s conviction out over a sexual assault and senator Gillibrand started trying to take military prosecutoral power away from commanders, the military has prosecuted almost any and every accusation that is made.

2

I have reported SJA records and military court cases.

This is reported on your SF86 as being charged with an offense. The record is pulled from the SJA and reported. Investigators talk to people that are aware of the incident.

Military court records are treated like any other court record. Be honest and up front - give knowledgeable leads - and you should do well - give the story you have listed here.

2 Likes
3

Get ready to relive the entire incident; unfortunately, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law means nothing anymore. Expect to be questioned and judged (again) except this time by bureaucrats. According to the documents I’ve read on this topic - an adjudicator will determine if the conduct occurred based on the evidence they gather. The logic behind this process is that the burden of proof for a criminal case (beyond reasonable doubt) is not the same burden of proof used to assess suitability/clearance determinations (preponderance of evidence).