The Pentagon’s inspector general told a lawmaker one of his constituents was ill-treated by Army investigators after alleging she was sexually assaulted by a reservist officer.
The revelation came a week after the Government Accountability Office said the military fails to identify factors that breed a unique rape culture in the services.
In a report initiated by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) published last week, the Pentagon Inspector general said the Virginia resident’s charges were not sufficiently investigated and rebuked the US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) for refusing to reopen the case.
The internal watchdog found that a CID case officer was “derisive and dismissive” toward Warner’s constituent, telling her “[y]ou cannot have consensual sexual relations and then revoke consent after the act.”
It also found that CID didn’t interview potential witnesses named by the alleged victim, and concluded that it “incorrectly categorized the rape offense as unfounded.”
Additionally–although the alleged assailant was married and faced punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for even a consensual extramarital act–the subject of the investigation was honorably discharged in August 2014 without receiving any kind of punishment for the incident.
The inspector general said it couldn’t determine if CID’s actions, or lack thereof, resulted in the timing of the dismissal, but noted that investigators didn’t give a detailed report to the alleged attacker’s commander until March 2015, and only then “because of our evaluation.”
While CID commanding officer Maj. Gen. Mark Inch defended the decision to close the case by pointing to a separate army inquiry and the response of local police, the IG responded noting that civilian officials shouldn’t impact military justice, and added that their own investigation was inadequate—in part because of the military’s inaction.
“The prosecutors decided that the facts described in the victim’s statements did not meet the elements of proof to establish that a crime occurred based upon the facts known at the time. However, because the investigation was not appropriately thorough, they might not have had all the facts,” the IG stated.
“The recommended additional investigation, which is required by DoD and CID policy, might disclose additional information that the prosecutors should have received, prior to rendering legal opinions,” it also noted.
A Government Accountability Office report published on Nov. 4 said that the Pentagon’s strategy to counter sexual assault “are not linked to desired outcomes.”
The paper found that the strategy “does not specify [environmental] risk factors for…leaders at all levels of DOD and the military community.”
