SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES HAVEN'T BEEN PROPERLY HANDLED, IG FINDS

摘要

There are a handful of things that are supposed to happen when a service member reports a sexual assault. First, an investigator with specific training in sexual assault cases should be assigned. Later, a trained special victims prosecutor comes on to the case. But that hasn't been happening. A Defense Department inspector general report released Nov. 10 found that commands have been mishandling these cases on a grand scale. The Air Force, for example, failed to appoint special victims prosecutors in 94 percent of its cases. The Navy failed to comply with that regulation 59 percent of the time, while it was 50 and 30 percent for the Army and Marine Corps, respectively.