Air Force sergeant gets 20 years for rape

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SAN ANTONIO, July 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. Air Force boot camp instructor found guilty of rape, sexual assault and other crimes was sentenced Saturday to 20 years in prison.

The Air Force charged Staff Sgt. Luis A. Walker with having illicit relationships with 10 women at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio -- all of them in basic training and some in units he oversaw, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Prosecutors called Walker a "sexual predator" and asked he be sentenced to at least 40 years in prison.

Walker, 26, will come up for a parole review after completing a third of the sentence, about six years.

Walked was flanked by family members including his two boys, ages 4 and 7, when he read a prepared statement. His wife, sister and stepfather pleaded for leniency.

Five of his victims tearfully described how the encounters with Walker had damaged their lives. Several said they had lost trust in men. Two said they had struggled to maintain relationships and one said she suffers anxiety attacks.

"I can't be in a room with a male by myself," one victim said. "It's affected my relationship with my dad, it's affected my relationship with my husband, it's affected my relationship with people I haven't met yet."

Victims said they first viewed Walker as a friend who wasn't always screaming at them as other instructors did.

He later confronted them when he sought sex, and evidence showed he had intercourse with four of the women.

There was no physical evidence in the case, only the testimony of the victims, the Express-News said.