Derrick E. Patterson - Sergeant U.S. Army - Convicted Sex Offender

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Name: Derrick E. Patterson

Case: United States v. Patterson No. 99-0901

Date Of Conviction: March 20, 1998

Plea: Guilty

Charges: Forcible Sodomy Of A Child Under 12

Military Branch: U.S. Army

Listed In National Sex Offenders Registry? NO

During the Spring of 1998, appellant was tried by a general court-martial composed of a military judge sitting alone at Fort Benning, Georgia. Pursuant to his pleas, he was found guilty of 2 specifications of raping a child under 16 on divers occasions, 2 specifications of forcible sodomy of a child under 12 on divers occasions, 4 specifications of committing indecent acts with a child, disobedience of a lawful order, and damaging military property, in violation of Articles 120, 125, 134, 90, and 108, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC §§ 920, 925, 934, 890, and 908, respectively.

On March 20, 1998, he was sentenced by a military judge to a dishonorable discharge, 45 years’ confinement, total forfeitures, and reduction to pay grade E-1. On May 21, 1998, the convening authority, in accordance with his pretrial agreement, reduced confinement to 25 years but otherwise approved the adjudged sentence. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the findings of guilty and sentence in a memorandum opinion on January 22, 1999, and again on April 12, 1999, on reconsideration.

At the time of his court-martial, March 20, 1998, appellant was a 31-year-old married Sergeant (E-5) with approximately 6 years of active Army service. He had two children, an 8-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter. On January 4, 1998, his daughter told her mother that appellant had been sexually abusing her. When interviewed by the Criminal Investigative Command (CID) at Fort Benning, Georgia, appellant admitted that he had been sexually abusing his daughter since she was 5.

The abuse began while his family was in Germany. Initially, appellant began with inappropriate touching. Over time, the abuse escalated into sexual intercourse and sodomy. The sexual activity continued after appellant’s family moved to Georgia.

After his confession to the CID, appellant was given a written order by his company commander to avoid any contact with his wife and children. On January 10, 1998, appellant disobeyed the no-contact order when he broke his restriction from the fourth floor of Martin Army Community Hospital and ran to his on-post quarters. He yelled at his wife to open the door.

After the wife and children exited through the back door, appellant broke the front door down. The damage to the door was in excess of $100.00. Appellant wanted to get the keys to his truck and flee Fort Benning. However, the military police arrived at the quarters and blocked his escape.

Appellant was found guilty of an extraordinary number of sexual offenses against his own daughter, a minor child, over a 5-year period. The inability-to-rehabilitate evidence and argument was a small part of the Government’s sentencing case (R. 142), which otherwise called for severe punishment of appellant on the basis of the outrageousness of his offenses and their terrible impact on his daughter.

The decision of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals is affirmed