“I felt trapped”: Air Force officer testifies about sexual encounter with general

FORT SAM HOUSTON – The second day of the historic court-martial of a two-star Air Force general was marked by tense testimony from the woman he accuses of sexual abuse.

The officer said she was not prepared for her career to fall apart after a sexual encounter with her superior, Major General Phillip Stewart.

The officer recounted her experiences on the witness stand, explaining how she had given in to Stewart’s sexual advances because of his rank and power.

“I felt trapped,” she said of the night in Altus. “I haven’t kissed anyone except my husband in 22 years.”

The alleged assault occurred in April 2023 during a trip to Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Weeks earlier, however, she reported an alleged encounter in Denver at a conference she and Stewart attended.

According to evidence presented by prosecutors, Stewart invited her to his hotel room through a series of text messages sent to her private phone.

“You can stay here,” Stewart’s text read. “I have two queen beds.”

The alleged victim stated that she was uncomfortable receiving these messages and that she spoke to two non-commissioned officers of the command about it that same evening.

“I was in tears,” she testified. “I worked way too hard to get here.”

She said she told the two pilots the next morning not to say or do anything, feeling she may have misinterpreted the messages.

A month after the Denver conference, the same group took a trip to Altus. After a night of drinking, the woman took her commander to his quarters on base. She noted that she felt they had a bond and that she was happy that he was showing interest in her on a professional level.

When she arrived at the commander’s quarters, he invited her for a glass of wine. She testified that she tried to stop him from breaking the “bottle-to-throttle” rule, which requires flying a plane within 12 hours of consuming alcohol.

When he invited her for a glass of wine, she said she had never seen a commander “blatantly disregard” the rule. She had a drink with him.

“I really thought it was just a glass,” she said.

When asked by lead prosecutor Col. Naomi Dennis why she went in after saying she was uncomfortable with the encounter in Denver, the woman said she thought she had overreacted.

“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” the woman said of Denver.

Evidence showed that the woman invited two noncommissioned officers to the commander’s quarters. They came and spent some time with Stewart and the alleged victim. Eventually they left, and she sat alone on the couch telling Stewart stories, according to her testimony.

“At some point I noticed that he had put his arm around me,” she noted. “The conversation was not flirtatious.”

Then she said they kissed. The woman claimed she didn’t know how it started, but she thought she would keep kissing him to find a way out.

“I never told him no,” she said. “And now it’s very clear what he wants from me.”

She remembered Stewart holding out his hand and saying, “Come.” She took that as an instruction, not a question, she said.

Stewart undressed her and the woman said she just “stood there” and felt she had no choice. She said she and Stewart had sex twice that night.

Back at her accommodation, she tried to call her sister. She added that she did not know when she fell asleep, but when she woke up on April 14, she had to spend the day as if everything was normal.

The alleged victim mentioned that she saw Stewart one more time outside of work after the alleged assault, at a restaurant where she was with her in-laws and husband. “He shook my husband’s hand,” she said.

She explained that she came forward after speaking to many trusted people in her life and realizing that the incident was not her fault.

She filed a complaint in May 2023.

One of the jurors, a three-star general, asked what her career goals were before the alleged assault and whether Stewart had supported them. The woman said she wanted to pursue a leadership position, possibly at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio.

The lead prosecutor then asked her what her goals were now. She said she was going to retire in November, suggesting that the alleged assault had slowed her career.

After more than six hours over the course of two days, the woman left the witness stand. Her family immediately left the public gallery.

The next witness took the stand and will be cross-examined on Wednesday morning.

Guilty pleas

Stewart pleaded guilty to two of the less serious charges before his opening arguments on Monday: dereliction of duty under Article 92 and extramarital sexual intercourse under Article 134.

The presiding military judge, Colonel Matthew Stoffel, questioned Stewart about the relationship between himself and the alleged victim.

“I am guilty of seeking an inappropriate relationship,” Stewart told the judge. “I was aware that I should not have an unprofessional relationship.”

He spoke about the night he spent with the alleged victim, his then-supervisor, in Oklahoma. Although he faces sexual assault charges, he said the relationship was consensual.

Stewart insisted that he knew he should not have entered into an unprofessional relationship with a subordinate officer. Stoffel asked Stewart three times if he understood his responsibilities in maintaining a professional relationship. Stewart answered “yes” each time.

“I knew what we were doing was wrong,” he said. “I knew there were rules against it. … I did it anyway.”

Stewart stressed that Article 134, which concerns extramarital sex, is an offense that negatively affects the Air Force’s image.

“I knew I was married to someone else, and I knew she was married to someone else,” Stewart said. “She kissed me, and that turned into consensual sex.”

In opening statements, the defense described this case as adultery, not assault. Instead, they spoke of a night of emotional and physical intimacy.

Stewart had been married for seven years at the time; he has since divorced.

Historical process

Stewart is only the second general in Air Force history to be court-martialed. It was also the first time a general was tried before a jury.

The last court-martial of a two-star Air Force general accused of sexual assault took place in 2022. Former Major General William T. Cooley avoided prison time, was stripped of his rank, and retired as a colonel by opting for a military court over a jury trial.

Previously, the two demoted and retired generals had not been court-martialed.

New legal era

The Stewart trial also took place at a time when an old legal era was ending and a new one was beginning.

The Office of Special Trials Council (OSTC) began its work late last year, as part of the new military law that came into effect after the death of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen. She was murdered at Fort Cavazos in 2020 after being sexually assaulted. The outcry from fellow soldiers, veterans and her family changed the way the military handles sexual abuse cases.

In previous years, the cases and reports were handled by commanders. Today, the OSTC is an independent organization within the Pentagon that handles cases of sexual assault, domestic violence and murder.

Cases have been processed through the OSTC since the beginning of this year. Stewart’s case is one of the last cases still being processed under the old review system.