Army Col. Jon Meredith, who is assigned to Fort Cavazos, Texas, will face a court-martial scheduled for Aug. 14, 2023, on two counts of abusive sexual contact and two counts of conduct unbecoming of an officer, according to Army officials. (U.S. Army)
AUSTIN, Texas — The wife of an Army officer claims she was at her home at Fort Cavazos with her daughter while her husband was away training when Col. Jon Meredith came to her house, groped her and made unwanted sexual advances toward her, according to court documents released Friday.
Meredith, 47, was arraigned Monday on two counts of abusive sexual contact and two counts of conduct unbecoming of an officer, according to Lt. Col. Jennifer Bocanegra, spokeswoman for the 1st Cavalry Division. Meredith was fired as commander of the division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team in October amid a criminal investigation into his actions.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday before military judge Col. Maureen Kohn in the 3rd Judicial Circuit at Fort Cavazos, according to the online court docket. The colonel will now face a court-martial scheduled for Aug. 14.
“Col. Meredith looks forward to addressing the pending allegations in the case, and we understand everyone is entitled to a fair and unbiased process,” said Sherilyn Bunn, Meredith’s civilian attorney who is a former Army lawyer.
Meredith is accused of going to the home of the victim, who is a civilian, on July 23 while the woman’s daughter and another person were present, according to a charge sheet detailing the allegations against the colonel.
Meredith knew the woman’s husband was away at a field training exercise and “did wrongfully grope [the woman’s] inner thigh and crotch, kiss her repeatedly on the mouth, and tell her he wanted to ‘[expletive] her,’” according to the document.
All names apart from Meredith’s are redacted from the document.
The division first confirmed the colonel’s criminal investigation in March, when Meredith’s wife Col. Ann Meredith was fired from her job as commander of the 89th Military Police Brigade, also at Fort Cavazos.
In a post to her personal Facebook page, Ann Meredith said she was fired because she sent a text message that was seen as interfering with the investigation into her husband.
She will not face criminal charges, or a court-martial, and the administrative disciplinary action taken against her is complete, said Lt. Col. Tania Donovan, spokeswoman for III Corps and Fort Cavazos. She is now performing duties for the Military Police School.
Robert Capovilla, a former Army lawyer who now works primarily as a defense attorney for service members, said in the military justice system prosecutors can charge one count of abusive sexual contact for each unwanted touch even if the touching occurred within the same interaction. In this case, Meredith is charged with one count of touching the woman’s breast and another for touching her inner thigh and the area around it.
The charge of abusive sexual contact comes with a maximum prison sentence of seven years, dismissal from the service and forfeiture of pay, according to the Army judge’s manual.
The colonel is not under any form of confinement and has continued to receive $12,725 each month in pay, according to the charge sheet.
It is unusual to see a colonel face a court-martial, but it does happen, Capovilla said.
“By and large, the Army does a very good job of promoting the right people,” he said. “The second reason you don't see a lot of it is because there's not a lot of [colonels] walking around in the Army. It's a very select group of officers that make it to that rank in their careers.”
