For soldier convicted of multiple rapes, Army will review 2017 decision not to prosecute him

Army officials say they will review the decision not to prosecute a soldier accused of rape in the winter of 2017, who three years later pleaded guilty to that same crime, as well as a separate rape in the months that followed and the sexual abuse of his child in 2020.

Hughes ultimately accepted a plea agreement, admitting to two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault consummated by battery, one count of sexual abuse of a child and one count of assault consummated by a battery on a child.

Hughes was sentenced in late March to 13 years in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. But victims in the case told Army Times that had commanders chosen to prosecute Hughes in 2017, he might not have been able to commit later sexual assaults.