Court told recruiter became a predator

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez, middle, who is accused of rape, forcible sodomy and adultery while assigned to the Lake Jackson recruiting office from August 2008 to November 2011, arrives for an evidentiary hearing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on Tuesday morning, Jan. 8, 2013. less Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez, middle, who is accused of rape, forcible sodomy and adultery while assigned to the Lake Jackson recruiting office from August 2008 to November 2011, arrives for an ... more Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 65 Caption Close Court told recruiter became a predator 1 / 65 Back to Gallery

A woman testified Tuesday that a Houston-area Air Force recruiter doggedly pursued her in 2011, when she was a 17-year-old high school senior, sending her lewd text messages and naked photos of himself.

Now in the Navy, she accused Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez, 34, of trying to coax her into a sexual relationship and later told her not to talk with people about it.

“'If anyone found out, you do realize that both of us would get into trouble?'” the woman, identified as Female 15, recalled him saying.

An Air Force investigation began after her mother found the text messages and photos.

Agents tracked down 18 women who claim Rodriguez, a 13-year Air Force veteran, tried to initiate sexual relationships with them.

Eight witnesses took the stand Tuesday in a Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland courtroom for a hearing that could lead to court-martial.

The hearing continues today.

Prosecutors have lodged six charges and 35 specifications of misconduct against Rodriguez, who's accused of adultery, forcible sodomy and rape.

He could receive a life sentence if convicted of the rape charge.

Rodriguez is thought to have had sex with four women, one of them an applicant and another on active duty while assigned to the Lake Jackson recruiting office south of Houston since August 2008.

The active-duty airman, identified as Female 1, said Rodriguez and another recruiter began asking sexual questions on her second day on the job.

The second recruiter has since left the Air Force.

“I was very innocent and naïve, if you would. I didn't know how people treated other people,” she said, when asked how she responded. “I had never been in a situation like that before.”

Rodriguez, whose recruiting squadron is based in San Antonio, never sent emails or messages to her. But he allegedly pursued relationships with 14 other women via email or text messaging — in three cases sending graphic naked photos of his genitals.

At least one of the women, Female 15, was 17 and in high school at the time. Military law says 16 is the age of consent for sex, said Lt. Col. Mark Hoover, an Air Force's training command lawyer.

The Navy enlistee said she opted not to join the Air Force because of her experience. Most of the women listed as victims did not join the Air Force, but a few were recruit applicants. Two were recruiter's assistants, one of whom said she was raped.

Recruiting service spokeswoman Christa D'Andrea said it's not clear if those who decided not to join did so because of their experience with Rodriguez.

Female 15 said Rodriguez was professional during a screening session, but things turned sexual later.

They never met, but the woman said Rodriguez would text, call and send Yahoo instant messages to her phone. They became frequent, and graphic.

In one exchange, she said via teleconference at the hearing, Rodriguez talked of having sex with her in his office. She said the conversations also led her to feel as if she should not tell anyone.

“It became more, like, predatory,” she testified.

Air Force Special Agent Mark Ryan said his investigation found numerous women who received text messages and emails from Rodriguez.

He said records show Rodriguez made 934 phone calls or text messages to Female 15 from September to October 2011on his government cell phone, and that she logged 515 phone calls and text messages on her phone.

There also were exchanges on a Yahoo instant messaging service. Her mother discovered photos of her daughter on the phone, one with her wearing a bra without a shirt, and later found images of Rodriguez in boxer shorts.

The mother said she found a photo of him naked after one of Rodriguez's supervisors asked her to send him all the emails the recruiter sent. “This was very disturbing,” she said of the image.

A Marine recruiter in Lake Jackson, Sgt. Richard Lecompte, said Rodriguez came to his office in November 2011 and asked him to create an email from a new account purportedly from the girl's parents, saying they wouldn't press charges.

“I told him I didn't want anything to do with the situation,” Lecompte said, adding that he was ordered to file a report about the incident.

sigc@express-news.net