American military, England was among the soldiers who were photographed while they were allegedly torturing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq. In one of the photographs she is seen holding a leash around the neck of a prostrate naked man. England and other soldiers face the possibility of a court-martial for their deeds, which reportedly occurred in early 2004 but which didn’t come to public attention until May 2004 when the troublesome photos were aired on television.
In May 2004, England is five months pregnant. Her fiancé who is presumably the father of her baby, Spc. Charles Graner, is also implicated in the abuse scandal. England is insisting that her superiors in the prison were aware of the mistreatment of prisoners and condoned it. She says she was ordered to pose in some of the photos.
Scheduled to face court-martial at Fort Bragg, NC in January 2005, on 19 charges of abuse and misconduct at Abu Ghraib prison, England gave birth to a baby boy on October 10, 2004. The trial was aborted and moved to Fort Hood in Texas.
The child of a homemaker and a laborer, England was married at age 19 to a grocery worker, then aged 21. They divorced a short time later. At pre-trial hearings, one psychologist who testified on her behalf said that she had been deprived of oxygen at birth and suffered from learning disabilities, making her susceptible to peer pressure, especially from Pvt. Graner, with whom she was reportedly in love.
On May 2, 2005 in Fort Hood, TX, she pleaded guilty to seven charges related to prisoner abuse at Abu Graib prison. But on May 4, the Army judge rejected her guilty plea stating that he was not convinced she knew she was committing an illegal act. The judge declared a mistrial based in part on testimony of her high school guidance counselor calling her a “compliant personality” and of Private Charles Graner, who has been convicted and is already serving his sentence for his role in the abuse of prisoners. Graner, allegedly the father of England’s child, testified that he asked her to pose in the now-famous pictures so that he could use the photographs as training for other guards. England can still be charged and tried. While she awaits a military decision on her future, she performs office duties.
On September 27, 2005 in Fort Hood, TX, the former Army private was sentenced to three years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for her role in the Abu Graib prisoner abuse scandal.
Link to Wikipedia biography