ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) -- An Airman here was found guilty of forcible sodomy in a court-martial and sentenced to 35 years confinement.

After three days of testimony and deliberation, a panel of officers found Staff Sgt. Michael Rangel, of the 97th Communications Squadron, guilty of forcible sodomy on diverse occasions and acquitted him of failure to obey a lawful regulation for misuse of a government computer.

Besides the confinement, the panel sentenced him to a dishonorable discharge, demotion to airman basic and total forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

The case centered on a teenage boy who lived with Sergeant Rangel and was forcibly sodomized four to five times a week over a three-year period.

The victim testified about the coercion that Sergeant Rangel asserted over him, forcing him to submit to the acts of sodomy against his will.

The government also presented evidence of previous acts of forcible sodomy committed on his nephew and another boy he babysat when he was a teenager 17 years ago.

During the sentencing, Capt. Tamara Girton, a member of the trial team, argued that although Sergeant Rangel’s on-duty performance was thought of as “exemplary,” his off-duty conduct was far from that.

She also said that his misconduct was deserving of lengthy confinement and dishonorable discharge.

“The sentence today ensures that this man will not be anywhere where he might be able to hurt any more victims for a very, very long time,” said Maj. Ralph Paradiso, chief military justice.