A SPECIAL operations general has been charged with sexual assault for the first time in military history, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
Major General James Roddis – a decorated war hero – is expected to appear before an army court this month to file an appeal.
3
The 52-year-old married father of three is believed to be the most senior officer to face a court-martial for an alleged sexual offence.
He is only the second major general to face a military trial in more than 200 years.
He was charged under Section 3 of the Sexual Offenses Act, which covers sexual assault by touching.
Yesterday, the Army revealed that Major General Roddis was no longer serving – but did not explain why.
They said the trial would still take place at Bulford Military Courts in Wiltshire.
An Army spokesperson added: “Former Major General James Roddis will appear at Bulford Military Court Center on 17 July 2024, charged with sexual assault contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offenses Act 2003.”
The spokesperson continued: “We expect very high standards of behavior from all our staff and take any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously.”
Until recently, Maj Gen Roddis, born in Aberdour, Fife, Scotland, was director of strategy at Strategic Command, which oversees SAS missions and offensive cyber warfare.
Before that, he founded the Army’s Specialized Infantry Brigade — today called the Special Operations Brigade — and led it from 2017 to 2022.
Over his 30-year career, he earned a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for commanding 4 Scottish Highlanders regiment in Afghanistan in 2014.
He was appointed MBE in 2009 and has won two Queen’s Commendations for Valuable Service – one in 2008 and the second in 2017.
He was mentioned in combat dispatches from Iraq in 2004.
He also spent more than a decade on “specialized military” assignments that took him to 20 countries, according to his resume.
These included four combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he led groups of up to 120 soldiers.
Maj Gen Roddis, the eldest son of a Royal Navy officer, was also appointed Vice-Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, in an honorary role alongside King Charles.
The last time a major general faced court-martial was in 2021, when Major General Nick Welch was convicted of tuition fraud.
He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Welch was the first major general to face court martial since 1815, when Lieutenant General Sir John Murray was convicted of abandoning his siege weapons without cause in the Napoleonic Wars.
His conviction came weeks after Maj. Gen. Chris Bell was ordered to resign for lying to his bosses about a relationship with a reservist from the secretive 77th Brigade, a psychological warfare unit.
Maj Gen Bell’s disciplinary case was handled by the Army board and was never brought to court martial.
The Sun on Sunday approached Maj Gen Roddis for comment.
3
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
