Army Maj. Jonathan J. Batt could face a court-martial on charges including rape, assault and obstruction of justice, according to service officials. (U.S. Air Force)
A Virginia-based Army major faces accusations of sexual offenses against at least 20 victims in a three-year period, the service’s Office of Special Trial Counsel said Friday.
An Army lawyer on Monday issued a recommendation that Maj. Jonathan J. Batt face a court-martial on charges including rape, assault and obstruction of justice, said Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Office of Special Trial Counsel. The office will soon determine whether the case will proceed to a court-martial, she said.
The charges include 76 specifications of wrongdoing ranging from rape to sexual assault, assault and obstructing an investigation, McCaskill said. The Army brought the charges on Oct. 16 and the service’s Criminal Investigation Division described the probe on Friday as open and ongoing.
Batt is a 2007 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He commissioned as an infantry officer and he has served with the 82nd Airborne Division, the 5th Ranger Training Brigade, the 3rd Infantry Division, the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 3rd Infantry Regiment, according to service records. He has served at least four combat tours in Afghanistan and he most recently was assigned to the Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center in northern Virginia’s Crystal City.
Officials said Friday that Batt was initially placed in detainment by his commander, but he was released from custody Nov. 1 by a military judge after a hearing.
“Maj. Batt has complied with all orders of his commander,” McCaskill said.
Army officials declined to provide specific details about the case against Batt, including charging documents and court records. The Office of Special Trial Counsel said Friday that individuals with knowledge of the case should report information to the Army CID.
McCaskill said Batt has been “charged with 14 specifications of rape, 20 specifications of sexual assault, three specifications of abusive sexual contact, 15 specifications of aggravated assault by strangulation, one specification of aggravated assault by suffocation, 22 specifications of assault consummated by a battery, and one specification of obstructing justice.” She said the assaults occurred between Dec. 1, 2019, and Feb. 17, 2023.
Most of the assaults occurred in the Washington, D.C. area, she said. The case was first reported to civilian police in Alexandria, Va., who notified CID, McCaskill said. CID agents later found additional victims who reported they were assaulted by Batt.
Batt’s civilian attorney, Nathan Freeburg, declined comment on the case on Friday through his law firm partner, Phil Cave.
The Office of Special Trial Counsel was established by the Army last year after Congress mandated the military develop independent offices to prosecute certain felony-level crimes, including sexual assault. McCaskill said Batt will be arraigned, and his case will be assigned to a military judge if the office refers charges to a general court-martial. She did not say when such a decision might be made.
