Navy sailor charged with July 4 sex assault of Conn. girl, 12; 2 others face related charges

Navy sailor accused of sex assault of Conn. girl

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Navy sailor has been charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl on Independence Day after offering her and her friends alcohol, and two others face related charges for their roles in the encounter, authorities said Wednesday.

The girl told police she had sex with one of the men in a truck and sexual contact with the other two inside a house, according to arrest warrants. She said the attack occurred in Groton, where the Navy has a submarine base.

The sailors, assigned to the USS Philadelphia, turned themselves in Monday, police said. Gabriel Dominguez, 21, was charged with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor, while Benjamin Boyter, 22, and Keith Douglass, 23, were charged with risk of injury to a minor, police said.

The girl had complained to police, according to arrest warrants. She said she and her friends were walking by a house the night of July 4, 2009, when a man came off a front porch and asked if they wanted alcohol so they went into the yard and served themselves.

The girl said she then had sex with a man named Gabriel in a truck in the driveway. She said she later went inside the house and was fondled by a man named Keith on a couch and had sexual contact with a man named Benji.

The girl identified the men from a photo lineup, authorities said. The men admitted having sex or sexual contact with the girl, but Dominguez said he thought the girl and her friends were between 17 and 20 years old, police said.

Telephone messages were left with an attorney for Douglass, of Schoolcraft, Mich. It was unclear if Boyter, of Woodruff, S.C., and Dominguez, of Manteca, Calif., had attorneys. A person who answered Boyter’s phone said she had not been able to reach him, and there was no answer at a possible phone number for Dominguez.

Navy spokesman Steven Myers said the sailors remain on active duty while an investigation continues. He said the Navy Criminal Investigative Service has been notified and will cooperate with local authorities.

“The Navy holds our sailors to a high standard of conduct,” Myers said in a statement. “When any sailor is accused of engaging in criminal activity, the Navy reserves the option to conduct a separate investigation and has various punitive and non-punitive avenues to hold sailors accountable for their actions.”

The men were arraigned Monday and are due back in New London Superior Court on April 28. Dominguez was being held on a $150,000 bond, and Boyter and Douglass posted bail.