NEW ORLEANS – A Coast Guardsman was convicted and sentenced Friday during a general court-martial held in Norfolk, Va.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher C. Bush, 28, was sentenced to six years confinement, reduction to E-1 (the lowest enlisted paygrade), total forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge.
Bush was convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice of four specifications of Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) for engaging in sexual misconduct involving one junior Coast Guard woman and one civilian woman and one specification of Article 134 (general article) for possession of child pornography.
The crimes occurred between January 2010 and May 2013, while Bush was stationed at a shore based unit in New Orleans and on the Coast Guard Cutter Wyaconda in Dubuque, Iowa. The Coast Guard is not releasing the name of the unit in New Orleans to protect the privacy of the victim.
Rear Adm. Kevin S. Cook, commander, 8th Coast Guard District, was the court-martial convening authority. Bush was held in pre-trial confinement at the Naval Brig in Chesapeake, Va., since the beginning of June 2013 while he awaited court-martial.