Air Force Officer Found Guilty in Rape of Four Fellow Servicemen
A military jury at Eglin Air Force Base has found Capt. Devery L. Taylor guilty of raping four servicemen after drugging them with the date-rape drug GHB.
An officer at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. was found guilty of raping four other Air Force servicemen and attempting to rape two others. On Tuesday, a military jury returned the guilty verdict after nearly seven hours of deliberation in the court-martial case of Devery L. Taylor.
During the trial, Taylor was accused of meeting men in bars and then spiking their drinks with gamma-hydroxybutyrate, also knows as GHB or the "date-rape drug." Military prosecutors said that Taylor would then kidnap the men and force them to have sex with him.
The charges brought against Taylor included two counts of attempted sodomy, four counts of forcible sodomy, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of unlawful entry.
Taylor served as a medic and a chief of patient administration at Eglin Regional Hospital. He maintains that he had consensual sex with five of the men, four of whom were also in the military and one who hoped to join the Navy. Taylor believes that the men are accusing him in order to protect their military careers and to avoid being in violation of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Taylor also claims that a sixth man, who is openly gay, raped him but later lied to investigators, stating that Taylor raped him in order to avoid being charged with rape himself.
Taylor's private defense attorney, Martin Regan, concedes that Taylor is in violation of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning people who are openly gay and lesbian from serving in the military. However, he feels that a court-martial is not the right setting to deal with Taylor's violation.
Military prosecutors in the case say they are pleased with the outcome of the trial. Maj. Kathleen Reder said of her clients, "Being known to the world as a male rape victim is not fun. It is hard for them to sit up straight. If they are concerned about their military careers, why say anything?" Reder stated that she is proud of her clients and happy that they can now "sit up a little straighter."
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