An allegation of sexual assault made by one member of the Air National Guard here in Jacksonville against another member of the guard will not be prosecuted, according to a disposition statement from the 4th circuit State Attorney’s Office.
Staff Sgt. Kacie Suchanek went public with the allegations on TikTok earlier this year in a video that now has nearly seven million views.
“I have absolutely had it, and I am at my breaking point,” Suchanek said in the video.
Ten months after a servicemember was charged with two counts of sexual battery, and after investigating, the State Attorney’s Office declined to move forward with the case.
In a report obtained by the News4JAX I-TEAM, the State Attorney’s Office said the evidence and Suchanek’s statements didn’t line up. Suchanek said her story hasn’t changed, and she still wants her day in court.
In June, she told the I-TEAM the State Attorney’s Office was prepared to drop the two counts of sexual battery against her alleged assailant if she didn’t accept a plea deal for him on a simple battery charge. It was a deal she said she couldn’t accept.
Last week, she learned the charges would be dropped. In a new video posted on TikTok, Suchanek said, “I feel so failed.”
According to a statement from the State Attorney’s Office, Suchanek initially reported the encounter began consensually. Then prosecutors said she changed her testimony to claim the entire encounter was not consensual before changing her story back again.
“Oh no, I’ve always stood true to saying that it did start consensually,” Suchanek told the I-TEAM Wednesday.
The State Attorney’s Office said witnesses reported she “went into the bedroom willingly and without force both times” and witnesses reported they didn’t hear anything unusual coming from the room where she said she was beaten and slammed into a wall. Suchanek said those witnesses have conflicts of interest.
“One witness is a female who is active duty Air Force, and she is apparently best friends with my rapist.” Suchanek said. “So I believe that she would say anything to keep him safe.”
Suchanek continued, “The second one is from the man that I called my friend, and I don’t have any problems with him. But he is, I believe, very afraid of being pulled into this case having to testify, having to look my rapist in the eyes and speak the truth. I mean, he was the first one to ask me, ‘you’re not going to report it are you’?” Suchanek went on to say, “He had told me that my rapist was a superior to him of some sort.”
The State Attorney’s statement said Suchanek did not suffer injuries consistent with the allegations.
“That’s what I’m talking about with the bruises not being dark enough,” Suchanek said. She said prosecutors had previously told her that her bruises were not dark enough.
“They said there wasn’t enough evidence. After I had provided a rape kit, photos of my ripped out hair, bruises, my ripped up clothing,” Suchanek said in her TikTok video in June.
The State Attorneys Office said the GoFundMe account that was set up in the wake of the allegations would be argued as evidence — that she had a financial motive to fabricate the allegations. Suchanek said the GoFundMe that raised about $3,000 to help her hire a private attorney has been shut down, and the money was returned.
The report said most problematic is that Suchanek tried to pressure a witness to provide false information, which could hurt her credibility. She said that witness was a former best friend, who she’d had a falling out with.
“She literally said, ‘she wanted me to lie about working with her at Volk Field. It’s a military base in Wisconsin, and I just didn’t feel comfortable doing that.’”
Suchanek told the I-TEAM she did not instruct the witness to lie about working at the Wisconsin base.
“I never asked her to say a damn word except for give me the text messages,” Suchanek said.
She said those text messages corroborate her story but were never turned over.
The state said Suchanek hasn’t cooperated with the investigation, repeatedly failing to respond to efforts to communicate with her or taking a long time to respond.
“That’s part of PTSD,” she said. “If they’ve done any research with PTSD, avoidance is a huge piece of that.”
She said she feels failed by the process.
“I am so (expletive) outraged! (expletive) you Duval County, 4th Judicial Circuit!” Suchanek said in a TikTok posted last week.
“I’m not looking for internet fame,” Suchanek told the I-TEAM. “I’m looking for literal justice.”
The man Suchanek is accusing is a member of the Florida National Guard. A spokesperson says they will now coordinate with the appropriate civilian agencies to review the allegations and investigation to make a determination on appropriate administrative or disciplinary actions as necessary. They also said the the Florida National Guard stands firmly alongside all victims of sexual assault and remains committed to responsive care and justice.
Helpful numbers:
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233