A court martial has heard that an Army Corporal touched the breast of a female soldier while she replaced the tires on a tank transporter and squeezed the bottom of a female soldier he was “assessing.”
While he was observing the first woman’s performance as part of a test beneath a tank transporter truck, Corporal Andrew Cline, 34, allegedly grabbed her bottom.
The woman testified at the court that since she was one of the few women “in a masculine setting,” she believed it was “essential” to report the occurrence.
The next day, as they were changing a vehicle’s tires in a maintenance hanger, Cpl Cline, a member of the Second Signal Regiment, allegedly reached over the shoulder of the second female soldier and groped her right breast.
The court heard that the two ladies, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, reported the occurrences following a lunch date on the day of the second groping.
A female soldier’s bottom was allegedly groped by Corporal Andrew Cline, 34, for three seconds as he chuckled.
They were changing a vehicle’s tires when Corporal Cline allegedly leaned over another female soldier’s shoulder and groped her right breast.
Cpl Cline denies assaulting either woman sexually.
The first lady was completing a course at Bulford Camp at the time, according to testimony presented before Bulford Military Court in Wilts.
The prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Carmichael, stated: “Cpl Cline was in charge of approving her work for a course.”
Before they entered the pits below the truck to look at the underbelly of the 20-meter vehicle, he spent 20 minutes reviewing her work.
Cpl. Cline allegedly grabbed her bottom and held it for three seconds while giggling before leaving the pits.
A court martial at Bulford Military Court (pictured) heard on Thursday that Corporal Andrew Cline, 34, allegedly grabbed the bottom of the first woman as they were together beneath a tank transporter truck evaluating her work as part of a test.
I was shocked and turned around, the woman testified in court. He simply grinned before leaving.
You don’t go to work expecting that to happen, says the employer.
Before that day, Cpl. Cline was allegedly “pestering” the female soldier for her phone number, which made her feel “uncomfortable,” according to testimony given in court.
The soldier claimed that when she ran into her colleague the next day, she revealed that Cpl Cline had also inappropriately touched her.
At the time of the alleged occurrence, Cpl. Cline was evaluating the first woman who was finishing a course at Bulford Camp.
The second female soldier informed the first that Cpl Cline had touched her breast earlier that day after she revealed that he had touched her bottom the day before, according to testimony given in court.
The second woman then texted her Army-serving boyfriend about the event, and he got in touch with her senior officer on her behalf.
She testified before the court that Cpl Cline reportedly “squeezed” her breast as she was retreading tires on vehicles in a hanger.
“Cpl Cline came up behind me, threw his arm over my shoulder, and… put his hand on my right breast,” the woman recalled.
He kept it in his hand for two to five seconds. I didn’t immediately inform anyone since I didn’t know how to do it.
Cpl Cline rejects both of the sexual assault charges.
The trial goes on.