Fort Bliss soldier Christian Alvarado has been found guilty of multiple counts ofsexual assault and abuse.- Alvarado will face an 18-year military prison sentence, a court-martial determined on Friday.
- A new study found that female soldiers at
Texas ' Fort Bliss face some of the highest risks of sexual assault than at otherArmy posts.
A soldier from Fort Bliss, Texas, has been sentenced to 18 years in military prison after a court-martial found him guilty of multiple counts of sexual assault.
A military judge on Friday found Pfc. Christian Alvarado guilty of sexually assaulting Pfc. Asia Graham, who was found dead in her barracks one year after accusing Alvarado of sexual assault.
ABC affiliate KVIA reported Alvarado was found guilty of assaulting Graham and another woman, but was acquitted in some of the multiple charges he faced of sexual assault, aggravated assault, and abusive sexual conduct.
After he serves out his prison sentence, he will be dishonorably discharged from the US Army, KVIA reported.
His conviction comes months after Graham was found dead in her barracks. The Army earlier this year concluded there was no foul play involved in her death. Autopsy results found that she had died of a drug overdose.
"Once the sentencing was over my whole anxiety dropped to the bottom of me almost like I can start my grief process now," Asia's mother, Nicole Graham, told KVIA. "Now my baby can rest in peace. I honestly think from the time she died until now she wasn't in Heaven. She was here, she wanted to see it through she wanted to give me the strength to see it through."
"She needed us," the mom added. "She was scared and she didn't get the support from the family the way [the Army] promised me they would do."
Fort Bliss did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
The verdict was dropped the same day a new study from Rand Corp. said female soldiers at Texas' Fort Hood and Fort Bliss face higher risks of sexual assault than those at most other Army posts.
The study also described how female soldiers' risk of sexual assault and harassment varies widely depending on a host of individual characteristics, in addition to the prevalence of harassment and leadership climate at a base.