3 U.S. Sailors Acquitted of Rape

A jury acquitted three U.S. sailors of raping a 15-year-old Australian schoolgirl while on leave last year. Damian Hargrove, 21, of New Orleans; Daryl Benson, 21, of Texas; and Timothy Tolbert, 25, of Georgia were found not guilty of 12 charges after spending more than a year in jail. The sailors were on leave from the San Diego-based aircraft carrier Constellation when the girl alleged that she was raped May 5, 1997, at a hotel in Perth, on the southwest coast of Australia. The sailors said they had consensual sex with her. The jury took 2 1/2 hours to reach its verdict.