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FORT CAMPBELL - A second US soldier accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl before murdering her and her family pleaded guilty to the charges today at the start of his court-martial on a Kentucky military base.
Sgt. Paul Cortez, 24, pleaded guilty to murder and rape in the crime at Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006.
In all, four current and one former soldier were charged in the gang rape and murders, a crime that outraged Iraqis and ratcheted up tension in the war zone.
Spc. James Barker pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to 90 years in a military prison.
Cortez, Barker and the suspected ringleader, Steven Green, were accused of taking turns raping the 14-year-old girl, then killing her, her father, mother and 6-year-old sister in the March 12, 2006, attack.
Green, was discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder" and is in a Kentucky prison awaiting civilian trial.
They are also accused of trying to burn the bodies to conceal the crime.
In addition to Cortez, of Barstow, California, and Barker, the other soldiers accused in the case are Pvt. Jesse Spielman and Pvt. Bryan Howard.
The Mahmudiya case was one of several killings and abuses involving US soldiers that have outraged Iraqis. It prompted Iraqi officials to call for a review of foreign troops' immunity from prosecution in Iraq.
- REUTERS
