There are a lot of questions unanswered by this article. One I find particulary interesting is, "How does the academy have jurisdiction in this case if it happened in the continental US, off base, while the cadet was on leave?"
That is very simple the "cadet" is literally government propoerty anything he/she does anywhere he/she does it is subject to/covered by the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) regardless of who else is involved.