Air Force prosecutors on Tuesday aired allegations of a third sex case by an Air Force Academy cadet last year — claiming he fondled a woman who was drunk and passed out in the academy’s dorms.

“Three different dates in time, three different females,” said Capt. Paul Clawson, an Air Force prosecutor. “All victims at the hands of the accused.”

The allegations opened the court-martial of Stephan H. Claxton, a cadet charged with abusive sexual contact, wrongful sexual contact and assault in the three incidents.

Claxton, who just finished his junior year, was among three cadets charged in January in connection with separate sex cases. Charges were dropped against one cadet and academy officials have yet to determine whether Cadet Robert M. Evenson Jr. will be tried on rape charges.

Prosecutors had made only vague references to a possible third victim during a January evidence hearing for Claxton.

On Tuesday, Clawson vividly detailed the third incident, which allegedly happened in May 2011 after a night of partying at The Mansion, a downtown nightclub on Tejon Street. Prosecutors suspect the incident took place later that evening at a Colorado Springs hotel as Claxton and two women lay in bed.

A defense attorney quickly countered those claims — questioning whether jurors could trust victims’ and witnesses’ alcohol-clouded memories.

“This case is about choices,” said Frank Spinner, Claxton’s defense attorney. “This case is about alcohol. And as trial counsel told you, this case is about sexual activity.”

The two other incidents also happened in the academy’s dorms after nights of heavy drinking.

In March, a cadet said Claxton placed her hand on his groin as she lay drunk on his roommate’s bed. She immediately pulled her hand back and threw up, the woman testified.

The Gazette does not usually release the names of sexual assault victims.

Claxton allegedly a statement to investigators in December admitting that “without a doubt in my mind” he felt “wrong,” Clawson told the jury.

Claxton also is accused of partially undressing a woman who passed out in November in the academy’s dorms after a night of drinking.

A fight allegedly broke out when another cadet called Claxton a rapist after finding the woman unconscious with her shirt pulled up and her pants unzipped.

Spinner jumped on the accusation — noting that the victim, who had been drinking, couldn’t recall the incident.

“In this particular case, the government is building their case on inferences,” Spinner said.

The court-martial is expected to continue through the week.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been corrected to state the correct location of the alleged May incident and the correct nature of the incidents.

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