Ex-State Dept Contractor Jailed for Embassy Assault

0:00It's April 2nd. I'm Cory with the story. This is Dallas News Today, driven by AI. A former State Department contractor from Texas just got hit with an 18-month prison sentence for sexually assaulting a woman at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Torian Clarence Coppage, a 40-year-old from Colleen, was convicted of abusive sexual contact after the incident in her embassy home. This went down right after a going-away party on February 18th, 2025, the day before he was set to leave Iraq. Coppage walked her home, crashed there to dodge curfew, then tried to force himself on her while she slept. She woke up briefly, pushed him off, and passed out again, then reported it right away. The State Department jumped on an investigation, and Coppage admitted to the assault on August 5th, 2025. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Counts handed down the sentence, including nearly $5,000 in restitution to the victim for. $1,949.98 exactly. Cases like this remind us, accountability reaches even overseas postings, keeping the focus on justice for victims no matter the location.