Crime & Courts

Fort Wainwright soldier sentenced to 20 years for raping girl

A 28-year-old soldier who was stationed at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks has been sentenced to 20 years for raping a 15-year-old girl, according to a U.S. Army Alaska spokesman.

On Friday, a general Fort Wainwright court martial made up of military officers, often characterized as a felony court, convicted Spc. Nicholas Marcum to one specification of "forcible rape of a child," according to the Army.

Marcum will be confined at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, said Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell. The barracks is the military's only maximum-security correctional facility.

Marcum also had his military grade reduced to E-1 and was ordered to forfeit all his pay and allowances. Pennell said Marcum would be dishonorably discharged at the end of his sentence.

The charges against Marcum were filed March 5. At that time, the Army did not release many details about the rape, reporting only where investigators believed it happened and an age range for the victim. Marcum was also accused of giving alcohol to the girl.

The rape occurred on Fort Wainwright in 2014, Pennell said. Marcum was a friend of the girl's family, he said, noting the Army was limited on what information it could provide due to the privacy needs of the victim and her family.

Marcum joined the Army in April 2012 and attended basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He attended advanced individual training at the U.S. Army School of Music in Virginia. He reported to Alaska in September 2012 and was assigned to the 9th Army Band at Fort Wainwright.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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