Military officials and Sinclair's lawyers met Tuesday to begin discussing a plea deal. This is the latest development in a case that began two years ago and really started with an affair that began in 2009. Here is a timeline of Sinclair's last five years, and you can view it through one of two lenses: he's being unfairly targeted, or his accuser is being unfairly disparaged.

Summer 2009: The affair begins

In the summer of 2009, Sinclair began a consensual affair with his accuser, a female captain, while the two were deployed in Iraq. He was in his late 40s, she was in her late 20s. He was (and remains) married with two children. The affair continued for three years, while Sinclair allegedly had inappropriate relationships with at least four other women at various intervals (three military women and one civilian). He's admitted to exchanging sexual messages with two of them. Adultery itself is a military crime that can end careers.

September 2011: Sinclair deploys to Afghanistan, where the alleged assaults occur

Sinclair's accuser deployed with him as part of the 82nd Airborne division to Afghanistan in September 2011. She was listed as one of his aides. Now, Sinclair's accuser alleges that he forced her to perform oral sex on him twice during this time — once on December 1, 2011, and once on February 5, 2012. In her testimony about the relationship (given in November 2012), she recalled, "I didn't want to do it. I just kept crying. It was weird. It was like he was trying to say that he loved me." She says she tried to end the affair, but he threatened her.

March 2012: The accuser confesses the affair and makes her allegations

On March 19, 2012, the accuser confessed the affair to Sinclair's boss, Major General James L. Huggins. She also claimed that he forced oral sex on her and groped her inappropriately. In her November 2012 testimony, she explained the nature of their relationship and how it ended. The Fayetteville Observer recounts:

The woman said that when she began sleeping with Sinclair ... she thought he was in an open relationship with his wife and that the couple was looking for a woman to complete a threesome. The woman said she assumed her relationship with Sinclair would end once the Iraq deployment was over. But, she said, Sinclair broke down crying and told her that he had lied and that he was in a loveless marriage and wanted the affair to continue.

And so the affair continued in Afghanistan, where Sinclair allegedly assaulted her. The accuser claims that Sinclair threatened to kill her family if she told anyone about the relationship. She testified, "He said that he would kill my family and that he could do it in a way that nobody would know it was him." In light of these allegations, Sinclair was sent back to Fort Bragg.

In the summer of 2012, Sinclair offered to plead guilty to adultery, hoping the assault allegations would go away. The Army denied his request. He was formally accused of assault, adultery, and other military crimes in September 2012.