Jury acquits Air Force officer in assault case

The former head of the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention office was found not guilty Wednesday of assaulting a woman outside a bar in Arlington, Va., earlier this year.

Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski was acquitted by a seven-person jury after an hour of deliberations Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

He faced a misdemeanor assault charge after prosecutors dropped sexual battery charges in July.

Krusinski’s arrest in May sparked outrage in Congress, and it was one of several incidents in the military this year that prompted numerous proposals from lawmakers reforming how the military deals with sexual assault in its ranks.

Krusinski was accused with grabbing a woman’s buttocks outside a bar in Crystal City. He was fired from his position as the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention office and re-assigned elsewhere after his arrest.