3 Air Force cadets charged with sexual assault

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Air Force Academy says three cadets have been charged with unrelated sexual assaults just weeks after the Colorado institution released a report showing a rise in such cases from the previous year.

The academy says commanders recommended the charges because the investigations but were completed about the same time.

The cadets — Stephan H. Claxton, Kyle A. Cressy and Robert M. Evenson Jr. — are not incarcerated. Their hometowns were not released.

Claxton and Cressy are attending classes and Evenson is on casual status, a category usually used for cadets awaiting another assignment.

A Defense Department report last month said 33 sexual assaults were reported at the academy in the 2010-2011 academic year, up from 20 the previous year, though five of the 33 happened prior to military service.