Stephen Tyler Bieneman has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault over the incident last November at McMurdo Station.

Stephen Tyler Bieneman has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault over the incident last November at McMurdo Station.

A man accused of physically assaulting a woman at a U.S. research station in Antarctica was then sent to a remote icefield where he was tasked with protecting the safety of a professor and three young graduate students, and he remained there for a full week after a warrant for his arrest was issued, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Stephen Tyler Bieneman has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault over the incident last November at McMurdo Station, which his lawyer said was nothing more than “horseplay.” The case is due to go to trial Monday in Honolulu.

  • trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    15·
    1 year ago

    Well, he said as much.

    One night at Southern Exposure, Monahon told the AP, Buckingham began laughing with buddies about who was going to sleep with her and her friend. Next thing, he was forehead to forehead with another man, she says. Buckingham, reached by phone in New Zealand, declined to comment and hung up.

    Monahon says she repeatedly told Buckingham she didn’t want to speak with him. Soon after, she heard Buckingham was angry at her.

    Worried, she says, she told PAE’s human resources she feared for her safety. They took no action. A week later, Buckingham rushed up to her in Gallagher’s, shaking with anger, shouting and threatening her, she says.

    “You’ve been talking s— about my mother,” he yelled at her, she says, leaving her baffled. “People who talk s— about my mother deserve to die.”

    Monahon says she was shocked to the core. “Snitches will get stitches,” she says Buckingham snarled as others intervened.

    • stella@lemm.ee
      320·
      1 year ago

      Is there any evidence to go on besides her word?

      This seems like an odd story. Why would he complain about her talking about his mom? It’d make more sense if he complained about her going to HR.

      He could just be unhinged. I wonder what other people have to say about him or if there’s any video evidence of these encounters.

      • trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        12·
        1 year ago

        Is there any evidence to go on besides her word?

        There were other eyewitnesses. The bartender called 911.

        You should read this article:
        https://apnews.com/article/women-working-antarctica-sexual-harassment-assault-mcmurdo-ba0e550fddf1ab0afd031ff4d25143cb

        “You’ve been talking s— about my mother,” he yelled at her, she says, leaving her baffled. “People who talk s— about my mother deserve to die.”
        Monahon says she was shocked to the core. “Snitches will get stitches,” she says Buckingham snarled as others intervened.
        Cameron Dailey-Ruddy, who bartended at Gallagher’s, witnessed the commotion. He ordered everyone but Monahon to leave and called 911, which connects to the station firehouse. From the dispatcher, Dailey-Ruddy got the numbers for the Leidos station manager and PAE’s HR representative and asked them to come to the bar.
        “It was kind of an open secret at that point that that guy had been harassing her,” said Dailey-Ruddy. He added that Buckingham was at the bars most nights, sometimes drank in public areas and harassed women.

        Why would he complain about her talking about his mom?

        He was in a bar and presumably drunk.

        He could just be unhinged.

        Probably:

        Three months before deploying, Buckingham breached a protection order taken out by his former partner and the mother of his three children, according to court records the AP obtained after petitioning a New Zealand judge. He’d texted his ex-partner demanding oral sex. She told him to stop being inappropriate.
        “No, I will not stop being inappropriate,” he’d replied, and demanded oral sex again, according to the judge’s findings. She again told him to stop. He responded, according to the records: “You need to be f----- like a slut.”
        A week later, he sent her 18 texts, court records show. She warned him she’d call the police.
        “Continue to threaten me and you’ll need to,” he’d replied.