JUNEAU, Alaska – A Coast Guardsman has been convicted on charges of committing indecent acts with a child and making a false official statement.

A military judge sentenced 43-year-old Petty Officer Benjamin L. Sylvester to seven years’ confinement. He is scheduled to serve three years, with four years suspended, in compliance with the pre-trial agreement.

Sylvester, who is from Belfast, Maine, also was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and reduction in grade during the court martial held Thursday in Juneau.

The Coast Guard, in a news release, said the indecent act with a child charges stemmed from 2004 when Sylvester was stationed in Maine. The allegations were brought forward in November 2012.

Sylvester is slated to serve his confinement at the Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in Miramar, Calif.


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