Spc. Nicholas Marcum, 28, received a 20-year prison sentence in July 2015, according to the Alaska Dispatch. The victim was a 15-year-old girl. Marcum was photographed in 2014, before he was convicted, and that photo was used for the ad. The rape took place in 2014, a US Army Alaska spokesman said in 2015.
According to an unclassified government document, “all soldiers, civilians, and family members are vetted prior to filming in any national or local advertising effort. However, participants are not usually vetted a second time if images are later used.”
The story was first leaked to Business Insider. The commercial, unfortunately titled “Honor,” played approximately 245 times nationally, according to iSpot TV, an advertisement analytics company.
The Army decided the former soldier’s image would never be circulated again. Since pulling the ad, the Army instituted redundancies “to minimize any similar circumstances occurring again.”
Marcum is behind bars in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and was ordered to forfeit his salary and allowances, the Army said. Upon completion of the sentence, he will be dishonorably discharged, defense officials noted.
