Crime & Safety

Coast Guardsman Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Two Women

Fireman Elmer Molina receives 90 days of hard labor without confinement, but no jail time.

—By Bay City News Service


A U.S. Coast Guardsman has been convicted of sexual assaulting two female Coast Guard members in 2012 and 2013 and acquitted of an alleged sexual assault against a third female member.

Fireman Elmer Molina, 25, was stationed at the Coast Guard Training Center in Petaluma at the time of the two assaults and the alleged assault, and he had previous sexual relationships with the three women that he knew from the Coast Guard bases in Alameda and Petaluma, Chief Warrant Officer and Coast Guard spokesman Donnie Brzuska said this afternoon.

Molina was convicted on Nov. 9 of a sexual assault on Nov. 4, 2012, in the victim's Rohnert Park apartment, and of an April 5, 2013, sexual assault at his residence at 7788 Bridgit Drive in Rohnert Park, Brzuska said.

The sexual assault allegations first surfaced after a female Coast Guard member reported Molina raped her in a Rohnert Park hotel room in March 2012, Brzuska said.

The Coast Guard launched a comprehensive investigation, but Molina was ultimately found not guilty of that allegation, Brzuska said.

But during the investigation of the alleged rape in March 2012, the Coast Guard learned about the Nov. 4, 2012, and April 5, 2013, sexual assaults, Brzuska said.

Molina, of Douglas, Ariz., was convicted of the violations against the Uniform Code of Military Justice after a General Court-Martial at the Coast Guard Base in Alameda, Brzuska said.

Those charges included sexual assault, aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact, assault consummated by battery and unlawful entry of a residence, Brzuska said.

A military jury sentenced Molina on Nov. 9 to a bad conduct discharge, reduction to the lowest enlisted pay grade, 60-days' restriction and 90 days of hard labor without confinement, Brzuska said.

He will complete his sentence at the Alameda base before he is discharged.

Under California law, Molina will be required to register as a sex offender, Brzuska said.

There are no other known alleged victims.

Molina's active Coast Guard duty began on Feb. 18, 2008. His duties as a member of the Facilities Engineering Branch included general maintenance, manual labor and odd jobs, Brzuska said.

"We will not tolerate any actions that violate the trust and moral standards of the U.S. Coast Guard," Brzuska said.

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


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