Three Pa. Guardsmen charged in sexual assault

Three Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers have been charged with sexually assaulting a woman they met at a bar during a weekend of training last winter at Fort Indiantown Gap, a military training center in Lebanon County.

The woman, 37, left a Jonestown tavern in the early hours of Dec. 15 and accompanied the men back to the barracks, according to police. She engaged in consensual sex with one man, but was forced to perform sexual acts with all three men while they photographed the assault using a cell phone, police said.

She suffered cuts, bruises, scratches and other injuries, according to court records.

Sgt. Alan Wayne Ledford Jr., 26, of Coopersburg, in Lehigh County, and Spc. Sean Patrick McMenamin, 24, of Pottstown, were charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, and other offenses, according to a state police statement. Spc. Matthew Steven Taggart, 23, of Springfield, Delaware County, was charged with sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, and other offenses.

They could not be reached for comment.

All three men were scheduled to deploy to Iraq next year but will remain in the United States on administrative duty until the criminal charges have been resolved, said Lt. Col. Chris Cleaver, public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Cleaver declined to speculate whether the men could be discharged from the Guard, but said they broke base rules by returning to their barracks after hours and bringing a woman to an all-male barracks.

McMenamin and Taggart belong to Detachment 1 Battery C 1st of the 108 Field Artillery Battalion, based in Spring City, and were set to deploy to Iraq in January, Cleaver said. The men joined the Guard about five years ago. Taggart had previously deployed to Iraq, Cleaver said.

Ledford joined the Guard in 1999 and has also deployed once to Iraq. He belongs to Detachment 1 Company A 628th Aviation Support Battalion, based in Fort Indiantown Gap, Cleaver said.