Page 2 - Celeste Returned News Today

>> celeste only has vague wrecks of what happened later that night, after an onduty officer entered her barracks to check on her. >> he looked like my sexual assaulter. he walked up to me. i freaked out and i guess i grabbed his neck. i started yelling, i am being sexually assaulted. they told me to calm down but i didnt calm down. >> the next morning celeste woke up in the psychiatric hospital. she says no one talked about what happened the night before. a month later, she attempted suicide aga...

Attention, it wasnt long after the marines offered her a plea deal. >> the prosecutor was trying to charge me for assaults for the ptsd incident. and they wanted me to plead guilty. and i told them, im not guilty. thats when me and my lawyer, we worked out this plea deal with the prosecutor to get me discharged completely. >> in a letter to the u.s. marine corps, a military advocate cited a pattern of misconduct as reason for celestes discharge noting her chain of command found her to be a below...

Celeste decided to unrestrict the report of her attack. >> i wrote a letter to my command. it detailed everything, what happened that night, how i was feeling, how depressed i was. and thats when he called me in and we talked about it. he tried to be positive, but then in another letter i mentioned something about my superior, that he was also doing misconduct. and he wasnt on my side anymore. >> there is an immense amount of rur to report to the chain of command, to your boss, to say, i was sex...

Well-being. i have developed anger, rebe rebellion, anxiety and other problems from military sexual assault. thats depressing because as i go through all this stuff i am watching this young woman who had so much promise and ambition start to self-destruct. one month into lockup with no end in sight, celeste asked a friend to post her story to social media. since vanessa guillens murder this has become an effective strategy to speak out. >> #, i am vanessa guillen took off like wildfire. >> vanes...

You have got to work. its just a waste of time. >> i first started noticing something was off in mid march. celeste seemed very frustrated. it seemed like night and day. she went from this really really happy active very determined young lady to just very withdrawn, depressed. >> for several months, celeste says she kept this secret from her parents and tried to cope with the trauma of her assault on her own, turning to alcohol to numb the pain. in june, she asked the military to admit her to in...

And it hit me really hard. all i remember is just falling asleep. >> that morning, celeste had a horrible feeling and asked her friend if anything had happened. he brushed her off. but his story soon changed. >> three days later, on snap chat, he messaged me, do you know what happened that night? and i told him, i dont remember anything. what happened? hes like, well, did you know we had sex that night? and after he told me that, i just completely broke down. and i got really sick. why would you...

She filed a restricted report that allowed her to confidentially disclose the details of her assault. >> after the report, you get provided medical services. and i was seeing counselling. but the counsellors -- they dont really deal with sexual assaults like really good. you have got to work. its just a waste of time. i first started noticing something was off in mid march. celeste seemed very frustrated. it semd like night and day. she went from this really really happy active very determined y...

Because she wanted to represent that warrior spirit that we all -- native americans have. >> what was it like when you first got to boot camp? >> it was very challenging. you will be hiking with your 50-pound pack up these hills, and it feels like you are crying because your sweat is going into your eyes. but i was so motivated. when i first got my eagle globe and anchor, i cried. i wanted to become a drill ekt instructor. i wanted to make a career out of the marines. >> in 2019, celeste arrived...

Marine corps. >> was there a lot of dating? >> yes, but the males go crazy on bays. like its annoying because thats all they think about. and i just was kind of always disgusted. >> as an out gay woman, celeste wasnt interested in dating men. but that didnt stop some from pursuing her. >> a couple months after i first got into the marines my superior officer started acting weird. he would always talk about sex, show me nude pictures on his phone try to hold my hand. he knew i was gay but he stil...

>> in a letter to the u.s. marine corps, a military advocate cited a pattern of misconduct as reason for celestes discharge noting her chain of command found her to be a below average marine who only did work when instructed. for this, they let celeste go with a less than honorable discharge. it is a stark contrast from a statement issued five months earlier where a direct supervisor called celestes work exceptional, and if in case of a discharge recommended an honorable one. >> when we look at ...