U.S. Marine Sergeant Demoted For Urinating On Dead Taliban Militant

Still image made from a video posted on YouTube purports to show U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

Marine Sergeant Demoted To Corporal For Urinating On Taliban Corpses -- McClatchy News/L.A. Times

A Marine sniper shown urinating on Taliban corpses in a video circulated on the Internet has been reduced in rank after pleading guilty to dereliction of duty and other charges.

Sgt. Robert W. Richards was reduced to corporal for his role in the incident, in which four Marines in full combat gear were shown urinating on the bodies of three insurgents in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan in July 2011.

Richards pleaded guilty at a court-martial at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on Wednesday, according to a Marine Corps spokesman, Col. Sean Gibson. Richards avoided a bad-conduct discharge that would have cost him most of his medical retirement benefits.

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More News On U.S. Marine Sergeant Demoted For Urinating On Dead Taliban Militant

Lejeune Marine pleads guilty to misconduct -- JDNews.com
Marine sergeant demoted for urinating on dead Taliban militant -- Washington Times
Florida Marine Sgt. Robert W. Richards demoted for urinating on Taliban corpse -- CBS/AP
Marine's Rank Lowered for Urinating on the Taliban -- Military.com