A United States soldier was found guilty of participating in a reported prostitution ring at the Army base at Fort Hood, Texas.
A U.S. military court found Army Master Sergeant Brad Grimes guilty of conspiring to pay a female private for sex, Reuters reported.
"In the court-martial of U.S. versus Master Sgt. Brad Grimes, a panel found Grimes guilty of conspiring to patronize a prostitute and solicitation to commit adultery," a press release from Fort Hood read, Tuesday.
The case was just one in a string of sex scandals in the military that occurred this year, leading U.S. legislators to pursue harsher punishments for those in command of soldiers' conduct.
Grimes, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was demoted a pay grade, in addition to further disciplinary action, YNN reported.
Daniel Conway, Grimes' lawyer, said the soldier was lured into "hook[ing] up" with the private, but that he never paid the fee and didn't actually engage in sex with the woman. He said that the explosive ordinance disposal specialist was "tempted," but didn't follow through on the act.
"They presented no evidence of an agreement between Master Sgt. Grimes and Sgt. 1st Class McQueen," Conway said. "There's literally nothing."
But Grimes said he was ready to continue on with his life, now that the sentencing had been delivered.
"I accept full responsibility for my actions in all of this, and I'm going to move forward," he said after the trial. "The sentence has been sent down, and I fully agree with it."
Lawmakers in Congress stated last month that they were seeking to make changes concerning the way the military deals with sexual assault complaints with renewed vigor, but no official bid has been drafted in the Senate.
Another soldier is currently under investigation for similar crimes - Sergeant First Class Gregory McQueen has been accused of running a prostitution ring with three other female soldiers.
