Schofield soldier gets seven years for sexual assault

Associated Press

A Schofield Barracks soldier has been sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually assaulting two girls.

Staff Sgt. William George Hayes II pleaded guilty in January to having sex with one of the girls over a two-year period beginning in 1997 when she was 14 years old. He also admitted to molesting the other girl, a 15-year-old, in September 1997.

Hayes, 36, had sought a lower sentence, citing his exceptional military career and his vulnerability to abuse in prison because of the nature of his offenses.

The request was denied when U.S. District Judge Alan Kay imposed sentence Tuesday.

In February, Hayes' wife, Janice, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for lying to investigators to protect him from being charged.

Janice Hayes told Judge Kay that her husband beat and terrorized her, but that she remained true to the biblical admonition that a woman's life should revolve around her husband.