A Fort Carson soldier was acquitted this week of sexual assault charges, but found guilty of indecent recording and aggravated assault. 

Spc. Gonzalo Michael Perez, a military police officer, was the third and last soldier to face a court-martial related to an alleged gang rape during May 2021. Mariano Rosendo was found guilty of sexual assault in the case during December and Pfc. Stedman Bell was found not guilty earlier in February. 

A civilian woman accused all three men of assaulting her in a Colorado Springs’ home shared by Perez and Bell. Perez also faced assault charges because he had a gun with him when he opened the door to the woman’s friends who came to confront him immediately following the alleged rape. 

She testified during earlier trials that she had gone home with Perez, who was her boyfriend, intending to have sex with him. She testified Perez invited Bell and Rosendo into the room after she said she was not interested in group sex. 

Capt. Kelsey Fleener said the woman did not participate in the sex, during opening statements Monday.  

She “never moved, never talked, never consented,” Fleener said. 

When it was over and Perez went to sleep, the woman went to into a bathroom and called her friends to come get her. She then hid outside the house waiting for them in the early hours of the morning. A few hours later, she reported the events to police and received a medical sexual assault exam, Fleener said. 

Defense Attorney Daniel Conway said the woman was actually participating in the sexual activities and photos of the night proved it. The photos were found on Perez’ phone during an investigation of the incident. The woman was not aware of them. 

Conway also told the judge, when the woman’s friends knocked on Perez’s door to confront the men, Perez did have a gun with him, but they were never threatened by it, he said. 

Col. Scott Oravec ruled this week Perez was guilty of indecent recording and aggravated assault. The judge sentenced Perez to 30 months in prison and a dishonorable discharge.

He found the man not guilty of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault, according to a release from Fort Carson. 

The sign at the entrance of the Army’s Fort Carson near Colorado Springs.

the Gazette File