Chris James Pitman

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Jan 5, 2024 — 3 min read

Christopher James Pitman is an ex Australian Army Major who was dishonourably discharged for sending pictures of his penis and having sex with a female junior subordinate.

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Further updates to this story can be found on the main page.

Discovery

I stumbled on Chris Pitman's case from a Reddit post of all things and it caught my eye.

I then followed the bread crumbs to multiple newspaper articles, including The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, Courier Mail and Northern Territory News; a simple google search "christopher james pitman" paints a pretty picture.

Lastly, I found his Court Martial case summary which confirms the information that I am reporting is true and that Chris pleaded guilty and was found guilty of the following charges.

The Charges

Pitman was court martialed before a panel of senior officers, the determined his sentence and were not required to give reasons for their decision. Chris Pitman was found guilty of service offences which only apply to defence force members, they are not criminal convictions.

Restricted Court Martial
Defendant: MAJ Pitman
Trial Date: 19 June 2023
Location: Court Martial Facility, Fyshwick, ACT

Charge 1

Concerned his consumption of alcohol when all members of the contingent had been instructed not to drink alcohol.

Charge 2

Concerned his inappropriate relationship with the other member.

Charge 3

Concerned urinating in the river Somme whilst intoxicated in front of subordinates.

Charge 4

Concerned his sending of text messages to the other member of an egregious nature.

Charge 5

Concerned an incident of texting the same member on a date different to charge 4 and also of an egregious nature.

Charge 6

Concerned his failure to report an incident involving the other member when he was obliged to do so.

The Details

During a court martial in June 2023, former army major Christopher James Pitman admitted that he got drunk, against orders, while posted in France. While intoxicated in front of his subordinates, he urinated in the river Somme.

Chris Pitman also sent “text messages … of an egregious nature” of his crotch to a serving junior subordinate female member in his direct chain of command. Pitman also later had sex with the female junior subordinate, in contravention of army rules.

He failed to inform his superiors when a more junior soldier “inadvertently” consumed MDMA.

The Reviewing Authority’s decision on automatic review was handed down on 11 July 2023.

Conviction Punishments / Orders

To be reduced in the rank of Captain with seniority in that rank to date from 20 Jun 23 and to be dismissed from the Defence Force.

Charge 1: Guilty/Upheld
Charge 2: Guilty/Upheld
Charge 3: Guilty/Upheld
Charge 4: Guilty/Upheld
Charge 5: Guilty/Upheld
Charge 6: Guilty/Upheld

The panel found that Former MAJ Chris Pitman failed to maintain discipline in the Defence Force and had a serious departure from defence values as an officer on a representative duty.