ABERDEEN, Md., May 6— An Army drill sergeant was sentenced today to 25 years in prison on charges of raping six trainees in a case that led to investigations of sexual misconduct at United States military bases worldwide. The drill instructor, Staff Sgt. Delmar G. Simpson, stood calmly to hear his sentence and hugged his mother, Edna, after it was imposed. He left the courtroom with his arm around the shoulders of his wife, Juliet.
Meanwhile, the Army plans to charge its top enlisted man, Sgt. Major of the Army Gene C. McKinney, with criminal sexual conduct involving four female service members, people familiar with the case said.
Sergeant Simpson's lawyer, Frank J. Spinner, said he would appeal and attributed the case to racial bias, though race was barely mentioned in the court-martial. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups accused the Army of singling out Sergeant Simpson because he was black.
''If you're an African-American drill sergeant in the Army, you're an endangered species,'' Mr. Spinner said.
Sergeant Simpson is black and most of his accusers are white. Most of the drill sergeants at Aberdeen, 30 miles northeast of Baltimore, are black, as are 11 other staff members charged with sexual misconduct.
The jury of two black men, three white men and one white woman convicted Sergeant Simpson a week ago and took less than three hours to reach a decision on his sentence for 18 counts of rape and 29 other offenses, mostly other forms of sexual misconduct.
The jury also ordered that Sergeant Simpson be dishonorably discharged at the reduced rank of private and forfeit all pay and pension benefits.
Maj. Gen. John E. Longhouser, commander of Aberdeen Proving Ground, where Sergeant Simpson worked, must approve the sentence. He may reduce it but not add to it. The sentence will also be automatically reviewed by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.
Some women's advocates considered Sergeant Simpson's sentence lenient.
''If he were a civilian, he would not be sentenced to 25 years,'' said Karen Johnson, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who is a vice president of the National Organization for Women. ''He would be considered a serial rapist and would receive life in prison.''
Others said the verdict sent a message that the military would not tolerate sexual misconduct.
The case prompted investigations into sexual misconduct at military bases worldwide. A sexual harassment telephone line set up by the Army in November received more than 1,243 complaints by late April.
Of those, 325 complaints have resulted in criminal investigations, 498 have been closed, 310 were referred to other Army agencies because they did not involve criminal allegations, and 110 were in the preliminary investigative phase.
Mr. Spinner, Sergeant Simpson's lawyer, insisted that the sex was consensual and said the convictions reflected undue influence by top Army commanders, an issue he said he would raise on appeal.
Sergeant Simpson's sentence also covered five lesser charges to which he had already pleaded guilty. He could be eligible for clemency in five years and eligible for parole after serving one-third of the sentence, or eight years and four months.
Poster Comment:
This happened many years ago (1997) but things don't change.
All the drill sergeants who went to prison or were kicked out of the military were black. There might there might have been one white guy, but I'm not sure.