Trial is underway for a former North Dakota National Guard member accused of sexually assaulting two female soldiers he outranked.
Daniel Carpenter is charged with felony gross sexual imposition where the person is unaware, and misdemeanor sexual assault. Those charges carry up to 20 years in prison and nearly a year in jail, respectively, and follow incidents that allegedly took place in June 2023.
In his opening remarks Tuesday, Assistant Burleigh County State’s Attorney Isaac Lees told jurors the charges relate to incidents that involved two women Guard members at a Bismarck hotel party held after soldiers had returned from training in Montana.
The women were identified in court by their initials. The Tribune does not publish names of purported sexual assault victims, or any other information such as initials that could potentially identify them.
The party violated the Guard’s Fitness to Fight policy, which prohibits excessive drinking, as unit members were still under orders and were supposed to report for formation the next day, Lees said.
Carpenter, who served as staff sergeant and readiness officer of the Guard’s 816th Military Police Unit, outranked both women and should not have been at the hotel as the rooms were provided for soldiers who lived out of town and Carpenter lives in Bismarck, the prosecutor said.
Defense attorney Tyler Morrow said Carpenter’s presence was at the request of one of the women involved. Morrow told jurors that after Carpenter arrived, that woman kissed him and asked “Don’t you like me?”
The prosecutor maintained the woman was so drunk that she had difficulty walking and was in no condition to engage in consensual sexual activity. He also said a second woman who had not been drinking as heavily went to bed only to be awakened by Carpenter, who was in her bed sexually assaulting her.
Lees added that the second woman was able to escape from the situation when the first woman entered the room.
Defense attorney Morrow told jurors that the sexual activity did happen but stated Carpenter believed it was consensual. Morrow also said the women failed to tell anyone at the formation the following day and that it wasn’t until September that details of the June incident began to emerge.
After the June incident, Carpenter and the first woman communicated, with one of those discussions involving Carpenter issuing an apology, the prosecutor said.
Regarding the incident with the first woman, the defense attorney told jurors that her story became one of an assault only after her husband alerted officials with the Guard and a military investigation was launched.
“She doesn’t remember telling her husband if she was sexually assaulted or not. This is a case of regret,” Morrow said.
The investigation involved all three people and could have resulted in military sanctions, including monetary penalties and loss of rank, Morrow said. He also told jurors that neither woman has suffered any military discipline or sanctions to date.
Carpenter was administratively separated from the service in October 2024, according to a Guard spokesperson.
At the time charges were filed, Carpenter had served 17 years and had previously been deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 with the 814th Medical Company.
The trial is expected to finish on Thursday.
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