A 26-year-old soldier with the Maine National Guard will be arraigned in a Cochise County courtroom next week on charges that he restrained, then physically and sexually assaulted a fellow soldier while on-duty during a border mission last year.
Bret Chapman of Walpole, Maine was indicted Aug. 26 by a Cochise County grand jury on four felonies related to a December 2020 incident in which he is alleged to have restrained the female soldier while engaging in nonconsensual sexual contact. A nationwide warrant was issued for Chapman’s arrest when the indictment was filed.
Public record show Chapman was booked into the Cochise County jail on Aug. 27 and had an initial court appearance the same day during which Judge Timothy Dickerson confirmed bail at $10,000 as set by the grand jury. He posted bail Aug. 30 and was released from custody to await formal arraignment on Sept. 7.
Chapman cannot leave Arizona without court permission and is to have no contact with the alleged victim in the case. Other release conditions prohibit Chapman from possessing any weapons, from consuming alcohol, and taking any drugs without a valid prescription.
It appears Chapman was part of a 120-soldier deployment by the Maine National Guard in October 2020 to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Southwest border. The mission, according to a news release at the time, was to enable CBP “to more effectively address cross-border safety and security challenges,” particularly COVID-19 mitigation.
Public records show the FBI was involved in Chapman’s case, but details as to when the alleged assault was reported to authorities and why it took eight months to present the matter to a grand jury is not noted in the public court.
Michael Powell of the Cochise County Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. A notice of appearance has not been filed by a defense attorney on Chapman’s behalf as of press time.
