Dads Against the Divorce Industry

DA*DI is devoted to reinstating the societal valuation of Marriage and the traditional, nuclear American Family, with particular emphasis on the essential role of FATHERS.

DA*DI offers contemporary reports and commentary on culture; its aberrations and its heroes.

Sunday, March 30, 2003

Academies handle cases differently

By Associated Press
Here are statistics on assault complaints by female students at the nation's military academies. The institutions track these cases in different ways so direct comparisons are difficult.

* The Air Force says it is has handled 56 complaints of sexual misconduct at the academy since 1993. Of them, 20 were reports of rape and 36 were for other sexual assault, according to Air Force Secretary John Roche. Accusations were withdrawn in three of the rape cases.

Some form of punishment was imposed in at least 20 cases, according to Air Force officials who cautioned that the records released to date are incomplete, and that not all the victims were cadets.

Five cadets were convicted in courts-martial, jailed and dismissed from the service. One court-martial ended in acquittal.

Seven cases resulted in reprimands and pay forfeiture after nonjudicial disciplinary hearings. Eight complaints were dealt with in lower-level administrative actions that resulted in dismissal from the academy.

* West Point had 15 reported cases of sexual assault from August of 1999 to February of this year, ranging from unwanted kissing to four alleged rapes, said Maj. Kent Cassella. Ten of the 15 accused cadets resigned or were forced out of the academy, three received lesser punishments, one was exonerated and one case is pending.

Looking just at the four alleged rapes, one cadet was cleared by DNA evidence. Two cadets resigned to escape courts-martial, decisions approved by the victims, Cassella said. In one case, evidence was deemed insufficient to file charges, but the cadet left the academy, he said.

* The Naval Academy had 11 reported cases during the past three academic years, said spokeswoman Deborah Bishop. Three of those cases remain under investigation.

Of the seven cases closed, charges were substantiated in four. While academy rules call for expulsion in such cases, Bishop would not say if that occurred. She refused to describe the circumstances of any of the complaints.

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