Defence Force Magistrates Court’s biggest scandals 2022
From sharing nude photos to secret relationships, here are the biggest scandals to come out of the Defence Force Magistrates court in 2022
Canberra Star
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Dozens of Australian Defence Force members have faced the Defence Force Magistrates Court this year.
From nude pic scandals to secret relationships here are some of the biggest stories to come before the court in 2022.
Navy nude pic scandal rocks the boat
Three sailors were hauled before the court for sharing nude photos of a female colleague.
Artist and former navy member Fred Whitson took the photographs the woman in 2015, telling her the images would only be used for artistic reference.
Yet she didn’t know Whitson and colleague Fletcher Mitchell had planned to obtain the images for their own sexual satisfaction.
Five years later, another navy colleague Patrick Beaman texted Whitson asking for the nude photos because he “needed to w**k”.
Whitson’s then fiancee, Married At First Sight star Melissa Walsh, noticed the text flash on the phone, and confronted him about the photos.
Ms Walsh ultimately told the victim about the photos and dumped Whitson.
In a powerful statement the victim described feeling “betrayed’ and “objectified” by the actions of the men.
“I’m a woman who is usually confident and proud of my body,” she said.
“I feel humiliated, anxious and judged.”
For his role in the scandal Whitson was dismissed from the defence force, while Mitchell had his rank reduced.
Beaman also had his rank reduced, was severely reprimanded and fined $1000.
Following the conclusion of the proceedings, Ms Walsh spoke out about her experience and said while she was nervous about alerting the victim it was an easy choice to help her.
“If I didn’t say anything how could I live with myself?” she said.
Read our full coverage:
- Sailor booted from navy for sharing nude pics
- ‘Gentleman sailor’ requested secret nude pics, court hears
- Married At First Sight star Melissa Walsh busted ex-fiance sharing nude pics
Veltman the Voyeur
A soldier’s quest to satisfy his voyeurism fetish ultimately led to his dismissal from the defence force after he published intimate images of a woman half his age on a classifieds website.
Jason Veltman, who worked as a signalman in the army, was in a relationship with a servicewoman and told her he was interested in voyeurism.
Veltman encouraged her to sleep with other men so he could watch yet the woman told him she wanted to be monogamous.
During the relationship she sent Veltman intimate images of herself with the expectation he would not share them.
Yet he used an image of the woman to post an advertisement on the Locanto website, written as if it was posted by her, to search for men interested in sleeping with her for Veltman’s benefit.
The woman’s colleagues found the advertisement leading her to be so embarrassed she left the ADF.
In a victim impact statement the woman said she was “scared, not only for my safety but for my dream job”.
“Everyone knew what happened, and I had nobody,” she said.
The court heard Veltman was given a suspended 28 day military detention sentence in August 2021 for sending an unsolicited dick pic to a female colleague in November 2020.
Yet Veltman was not so lucky this time, and was dismissed from the ADF by Defence Force Magistrate Major General Michael Cowan QC.
He described Veltman as “selfish” and said his victim was ‘entirely innocent’.
Read our full coverage:
- Jason Veltman dismissed from ADF for voyeurism fetish act
- Darwin soldier avoids jail for sending colleague a dick pic
Sailor’s sordid night in Salamanca
A navy officer who groped, slapped and made lewd comments to multiple women, including female sailors under his command, during a night out in Hobart landed himself in civilian jail.
During the night out in February 2022, Michael Burke picked up and slapped the bottom of a subordinate female sailor, touched the thigh of a civilian woman - who was sitting next to her husband at the time - and made sexually suggestive comments.
But most egregiously Burke groped the breasts of another female sailor while she was cornered in a cubicle of the female toilets.
Burke only stopped when a civilian woman entered the women’s bathroom, noticed what was happening, and told him to “f**k off”, the court heard.
The court heard Burke was so rough with the woman he caused extensive bruises to her chest.
Major General Michael Cowen said the woman in the cubicle was “vulnerable” and “essentially trapped” by Burke, and was “only saved” by the civilian who confronted him.
“You didn’t voluntarily desist – you only did when confronted,” he said.
“Your intent was sexual.”
Burke was booted from the defence force and sentenced to 120 days in a civilian prison.
However his prison time was shortened to 30 days following an automatic review of the case.
Read our full coverage:
- Michael Burke: sailor convicted of groping, spanking, female sailors
- Michael Burke jailed for groping, spanking, female sailors
- Navy groper Michael Burke walks free after jail time slashed
Air force officer’s secret relationship
A secret relationship with a subordinate crashed a high ranking air force officer’s 37 year military career.
Simon Ashworth, 55, began a relationship with a woman then aged 22 who was under his chain of command in 2021.
The relationship was precipitated by the woman telling him about having negative sexual experiences while studying at ADFA.
Ashworth told the woman he would be her “mentor for sex” and they began a relationship which lasted from March to November 2021.
People of differing ranks being in a relationship is not is not banned in the military, however members must notify their chain of command if they are in a relationship with a direct subordinate.
A prosecutor described Ashworth’s failure to report his relationship as an “abuse of trust” and an act of “disdain” against the RAAF.
The Courts martial panel convicted Ashworth of prejudicial conduct, dismissed him from the defence force and fined him $12,000.
Read our full coverage here.
Groping victim speaks out about “locker room talk”
Connor Sullivan was sentenced to 14 days military detention and was reduced in rank from sergeant to private after he was found guilty of groping a female colleague during nightwatch.
Sullivans grabbed the buttocks of the woman without her consent and said “I just want to see if it’s as tight as it looks — we’ve all talked about it”.
During his court martial trial Sullivan's victim said her “skin still crawls” when she thinks about the incident which occurred when she was paired with him while at a training course.
The woman said during her time working with Sullivan, he had boasted about cheating on his wife, who was at home with their 9 month old child.
She said during her time working in a range of male dominated industries she had become accustomed to “locker room talk”.
The woman said she would try to politely steer the conversation away from inappropriate topics rather than call it out directly.
“I didn’t want to be ‘that’ girl,” she said.
Read our full coverage
- ADF Sergeant Connor Sullivan faces Canberra trial over alleged groping
- Sergeant Connor Sullivan guilty of groping female ADF officer
- Army sergeant Connor Sullivan sentenced for groping female ADF officer
A high price for birthday bash “banter”
A navy officer who flicked the groin of a subordinate, who had recently had a vasectomy, during a birthday party paid a high price for the assault.
Chief Petty officer Andrew Parsons was celebrating his 40th birthday at a Perth bar in 2021 when he assaulted the sailor who was under his chain of command.
Parsons lawyer told the Court martial panel his client actions while inappropriate were in the “spirit of banter”
Yet prosecutors said “banter should not be careless” and said Parson’s actions put defence discipline at risk.
Parsons was fined $10,274.24 and had a reduction in his seniority within the rank of Chief Petty officer.
Read the full story here.
Soldier’s Anzac Day assault
A magistrate warned a soldier who assaulted another ADF Anzac Day he would send him to the back of the Centrelink queue.
Private Logan Paul Jobson headbutted the fellow soldier in the male bathrooms of the Soldiers’ Sailors’ and Airmen club in Albury NSW.
The court heard Jobson had been drinking before the incident, knew the other soldier and “did not have a particularly good relationship” with him.
Defence force Magistrate Scott Geeves gave Jobson a suspended 30-day military detention sentence, alongside some stern advice.
“Any repeat of this kind of behaviour (myself and the army) will send you to the back of the queue of the local Centrelink office,” he said
“The mark of a mature man, the man who wears the uniform you wear, is how he handles those stressors.
“Want to keep drinking to excess – you’ll be back here.”
Read the full story here
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