A soldier who refused to return to Iraq after saying she had been sexually harassed pleaded guilty Wednesday to missing movement and being...
FORT LEWIS — A soldier who refused to return to Iraq after saying she had been sexually harassed pleaded guilty Wednesday to missing movement and being absent without leave and was sentenced to 30 days of confinement, the Army said in a news release.
Suzanne Swift, 22, of Eugene, Ore., also received a demotion, from specialist to private, but she can remain in the Army and could earn an honorable discharge under the terms of the plea deal.
Swift served in Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005. Her unit was sent back to Iraq in January 2006, but she refused to go and stayed away for roughly five months. Swift said her supervisor in Iraq coerced her into a sexual relationship and that other colleagues had harassed or abused her.
The Army substantiated her allegations against one soldier at Fort Lewis. That soldier later left the Army after receiving a written reprimand from his battalion commander and being reassigned.
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Swift was arrested at her mother’s home in Eugene in June. Her plea, which came during a summary court martial, helped her avoid a federal conviction.
She will be reassigned to a new unit when she has finished her sentence.