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U.S. Naval Academy Sexual Assault Case Update: NCIS Investigator Testifies One of Accused Changed His Story

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The Navy investigator in the sexual assault case involving three midshipmen and one victim testified Sunday night that one of the accused changed his story over the course of a year, the Associated Press reported.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) special agent Jesus Torres said Tre'vas Bush told him in Aug. 2012 he had not interacted with the victim at the party in April 2012. Bush then changed his account of the night in Sept. 2012 when he told Torres he had sex with the victim at the party.

The party in question was at an off-campus party at a place known as the "football house" because of its affiliation with the team. The three accused men are all Navy football players. Josh Tate, 21, Eric Graham, 21, and Bush, 22, are facing a possible court martial pending the outcome of the current Article 32 hearing.

The hearing began Tuesday and lasted into the holiday weekend. It is set to continue Monday with the testimonies of U.S. Naval Academy students. The victim has been heavily cross-examined since the start of the hearing and she has admitted to being too intoxicated to remember all the details of that night.

She said she learned what happened after receiving mean-spirited social media messages. She said in the hearing that she asked Tate what had happened and that he told her she had sex with him and other men.

The victim's attorney, Susan Burke, has asked for her client to be excused from testifying on numerous occasions for being fatigued of recounting the difficult and sometimes graphic questioning.

"It led me to believe this had been an intentional effort to exhaust the witness," Burke said Sunday.

Ronald Herrington, Graham's attorney, said he is only doing his job in fighting for his client.

"She choose to disclose her version of the conversation," Herrington said in an interview. "I dispute her version."

Graham has been charged with abusive sexual contact, while Tate and Bush were each charged with aggravated sexual assault.

At the end of the Article 32 hearing, the judge will provide Vice Adm. Michael Miller, the Naval Academy superintendent, with a report. Miller will then be able to decide whether to order administrative sanctions, sent the case to court-martial or dismiss the charges.

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