The alleged ringleader of a sex ring calling themselves the "Knights of the Jedi Council" was charged by New South Wales police in Queanbeyan, Australia last week.
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| Army Chief Lieutenant General David Morrison |
Hastings Fredrickson, 40, is a former army commando with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), a branch of the Australian Army, and stands accused of leading a group of 17 men who allegedly shared videos and images of naked women without their knowledge. Some members of the group were even challenged to bed the women and film it.
All 17 of the men being investigated were also members of the ADF. As of 29th November 2013, two more men are facing formal charges, in addition to their "Jedi Master", Fredrickson.
Mr Fredrickson was working as a civilian contractor with defense company Thales in Canberra at the time of the alleged offences and faces six charges of using a carriage service to cause offence.
Australian Army Chief Lieutenant General David Morrison has sacked six soldiers for being connected to the ring. The troupe even had the cheek to use their official Defense Force e-mail addresses to send the images, along with explicit information regarding their conquests breast size and shape and details rate their sexual experiences.
It is understood that a further 172 soldiers are being investigated, though are not considered to be part of the core group. These soldiers will have received at least some of the e-mails entitled "Dear Jedi Council".
Most of these are still serving in the army and the reserves and disciplinary action is being considered against them.
Mr Fredrickson was granted conditional bail on Monday to appear in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on December 17.
Words by Gemma Clark
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