SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Navy on Tuesday dropped sexual assault charges against an enlisted SEAL accused of raping a female sailor at a Fourth of July party in Iraq that had prompted the rare withdrawal of the special operations unit from the Middle East in 2019.
Under the agreement accepted by the military court at Navy Base San Diego, Special Warfare Operator First Class Adel A. Enayat pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of battery and assault for biting her face and grabbing her neck during what his lawyer described as rough, consensual sex. He will serve up to 90 days in the brig.
Enayat also admitted to drinking at the party at a remote air base in Iraq in violation of Navy rules barring deployed troops from consuming alcohol, though he was never charged for that.
Per the agreement, Navy prosecutors stipulated there was no sexual assault.
It was an abrupt end to a case that had prompted the entire Foxtrot platoon of SEAL Team 7, known as Trident 1726, to be sent home early to San Diego. The withdrawal marked an extremely rare move that cut short the mission of a unit that was in Iraq to combat remnants of the Islamic State.
The Navy fired three SEAL leaders in the aftermath of the rape allegation.
Enayat plans to leave the Navy with a general discharge under honorable conditions per the plea agreement. He will lose his veterans benefits.
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