Marine Corps veteran Col. T. Shane “Rhino” Tomko was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Tuesday after he plead guilty to three counts of misdemeanor assault and battery, according to Stars and Stripes.
According to Stripes, Tomko was sentenced at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court in Virginia. He had been charged with indecent liberties, aggravated sexual battery and child abuse and neglect involving three child relatives, which reportedly started in 2002. Tomko has been in custody in the Virginia Beach City Jail since he was arrested in November.
Prior to his arrest, Tomko was pastor of Parkview Church in Quincy, Illinois.
Before that, Tomko was the commander of the Wounded Warrior Regiment prior to being relieved of his post in February 2015.
In May 2016, Tomko was sentenced to 60 days confinement and a $10,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to having an inappropriate relationship with a corporal, where the two had exchanged various Facebook messages that contained clear sexual content.
At the time, Tomko also pleaded guilty to showing up drunk to an arraignment, using a subordinate to acquire testosterone and violating a military protective order and contacting his wife. He retired shortly after his time in the brig.
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Maj. Geoff Shows, Tomko’s military attorney, had claimed that “Tomko needs help, not confinement” and that Tomko was “a Marine officer who is so broken that he can’t get out of his own way.”
While awaiting extradition in Illinois, Tomko will get credit for jail time, Stripes reported. Additionally half of his prison sentence, another 18 months, was suspended, and Tomko will not be allowed to contact the now-adult victims in the case or their parents.
Noah Nash is a rising senior at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. At school, he is the editor in chief of the Collegian Magazine and the digital director of the Collegian, Kenyon's newspaper.
