WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secretary of Defense has reduced a retired Army major general to the rank of second lieutenant after his guilty plea in Virginia in 2020 to charges of rape and incest.

The Army Times reports Pentagon spokeswoman Lisa Lawrence says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demoted Maj. Gen. James J. Grazioplene to second lieutenant after determining that second lieutenant was the highest grade in which he served on active duty satisfactorily.

Grazioplene initially called the charges against him “false and incorrect.”

Lawrence says the action is not subject to appeal.