Air Force Hero Faces Sex Charges
05:00 PM ET 09/23/99
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AP) - A decorated Air Force helicopter pilot who led a
daring rescue off the coast of Iceland five years ago has been charged with the attempted
rape of a teen-age girl and other sexual offenses. Col. James A. Sills, who was charged
Tuesday, could face 85 years in prison.
His lawyer, Drew Pinkerton, said Thursday the charges are unfounded and ``fueled
by a very bitter and acrimonious divorce.'' Sills, a 25-year veteran, is accused of
committing indecent acts against two girls under 16, including sodomy and attempted rape
of one of the girls four years ago.
He also is charged with adultery, having an unprofessional relationship with a
civilian Air Force employee and assaulting his estranged wife in a restaurant in Destin,
Fla., on June 18. Pinkerton said it was Alice E. Sills, not her husband, who was the
attacker.
Sills was honored in 1994 for leading two helicopters through blinding storms
and darkness to rescue six seamen from the frigid waters off Iceland after they abandoned
their sinking ship. He is the second high-ranking officer to face sexual misconduct
charges at Hurlburt in the past three years. Then-Col. David C. Rauhecker was sentenced to
three months in prison and reduced one rank in 1996 for kissing a female officer,
romancing his secretary and dating an enlisted woman.
He was acquitted of more serious charges and allowed to retire.
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