An Army major charged with sexually assaulting or raping over a dozen women he met on dating apps headed to trial this week in Maryland.
Maj. Jonathan Batt faces 43 charges, including six rape counts, seven aggravated assault counts and 10 sexual assault counts. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, claiming all the sexual encounters – even the ones consisting of choking and biting – were consensual, The Washington Post reported.
More than 30 other counts were dismissed since Batt, 40, was arrested after five victims decided against testifying in the military court. Fifteen women are still expected to testify against Batt.
Batt, a married father with a small child, met most or all of the alleged victims through online dating apps such as Hinge or Tinder while working in the artificial intelligence division of the Army in Arlington, Virginia, prosecutors said. Rape and assault allegations against him came in from multiple D.C. area jurisdictions and span several years, from 2019 to 2023, the Post noted
Some of the alleged victims have taken the stand in Fort Meade, Maryland, to share graphic accounts of things that would happen during sex with Batt without their consent, including being aggressively choked, having a pillowcase placed over their head or around their neck, and in some cases, getting tied up with ropes or bitten, according to the Post.
Batt’s lawyer, Nathan Freeburg, argued the sex was always consensual and that choking is “a pretty common sexual act.” Freeburg also referred to text messages between Batt and the women after the alleged attacks that apparently show the women did not think he had violated them, according to the Post.
However, during opening statements, prosecutors accused Batt of using his uniform and rank to take advantage of the women.
“The evidence in this case is that a selfish, sadist and sexually obsessed Major Batt exploited his uniform and his rank to exploit his victims,” Capt. Stephanie Ryder of the special trial counsel’s office said. “He never asked for permission, he never took no for an answer. He only cares about his own sexual satisfaction.”
While working in Arlington, Batt began using dating apps to connect with women, including a transgender woman who testified that she was in college when she went on a date with Batt in 2021, according to prosecutors.
On the date, Batt became aggressive, the woman testified, noting she had recently gone through a related surgery but didn’t tell Batt she was transgender.
She testified that she went back to his home and, after telling him she did not want to have sex he unexpectedly tied her hands to the bed with rope and repeatedly forced himself on her, according to the Post. The woman became emotional and cried while telling the jury that Batt “started choking me aggressively around my neck” without consent and that she was “pleading with him. I didn’t want to have sex.”
The following day, she had a rape examination and filed a report with the Alexandria police. She testified that she accidentally posted a private email about the incident on her Instagram story, and Batt apologized. She then agreed to meet with him at his home a second time, hoping he would apologize further, the Post noted.
She later called the police and told them she didn’t want to prosecute Batt, telling the court, “Maybe him raping me was a one-time incident, so I decided not to report him.”
While the police dropped the case, the assault came back to haunt her a year later when she came across a post about Batt in the Facebook group “Are We Dating the Same Guy?,” the Post reported.
After speaking with other women who had similarly violent encounters with him, she called the Alexandria police and said she wanted to prosecute. Alexandria Detective Brandon Smith began contacting the women from the group and found 20 who said they had violent sexual encounters with Batt, according to the Post.
Several other victims have testified detailing similar alleged abuse. Prosecutors say the trial is expected to last until late June.
Batt’s trial is a test for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, which was formed in December 2023 to create a more transparent way of prosecuting military crime. Under the military system, a colonel is the judge and the jury is composed of four lieutenant colonels and four colonels, according to The Washington Post.
The punishment for rape under military law can be up to a life in prison without parole.
