Five years ago, a US airman was discharged from service and jailed after a child-like sex doll was found in his room at an inspection.
This monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces overturned this decision, reinforcing that the use of child sex dolls is constitutionally protected.
But the court sent the case back to the Air Force appeals court a second time, to address another of Rocha’s claim, that private sex acts with a doll are constitutionally protected conduct.
The Air Force appeals court agreed. In January 2025, justices found Rocha had a “constitutionally protected liberty interest to privately engage in sexual activities with his doll,” according to court papers.
Even “considering potential discredit to the service, we have found that (Rocha’s) conduct—masturbation, in solitude, in secret, and in private—should warrant” the constitutional protection afforded by the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas. That landmark decision struck down a Texas law criminalizing sodomy between consenting adults.
That being said, it was a close decision, and not everyone was happy with it.
But in a scathing dissent from the majority, the court’s top judge warned the decision lowers the legal threshold for deviant behavior among personnel and sends a message that the U.S. military’s justice system accepts “the unabashed sexualization of children.”
“And so,” wrote Chief Judge Keith Ohlson, “hundreds of thousands of servicemembers who serve in the Air Force and Space Force are now authorized to penetrate … child sex dolls while on base and at their leisure. “
“This result is indefensible,” he said, writing alongside Judge John Sparks, who joined in dissent.
Now lets hope that the German constitutional court comes to a similar decision. It would be bitter have less freedom and protection than people living in a country ruled by an egomaniac dictator.
