I saw that linked article, as well.
A few rhetorical thoughts/questions and not necessarily related to this case:
(1) How do we protect alleged victims of sexual assault -- to include investigating and holding any alleged perpetrators accountable -- if the victim doesn't want to press charges (sometimes it is a personal choice that they don't want to have to re-live the alleged incident in a court)? Curious to see if that was why this case was "closed" and the victim wasn't "cooperating."
We remove barriers that prevent victims from *cooperating*. We make it clear that intimidation is not allowed and the penalty for that is dismissal. You know those 'annoying' briefings? We educate people and inform them of their rights if they are a victim.
We make it safe for victims to come forward. I am curious to know if Supt Miller ever had one conversation with the victim before he closed the case. We take the decision to move forward an investigation out of the hands of the commanding officer.
Any leader who cannot protect the victim from retaliation should be removed unceremoniously.
(2) What about claims of rape that are completely false (i.e. the situation where someone would have got in trouble for another offense, so the rape/sexual assault claim is thrown into the mix to grant immunity for the other offense)? In other words, rape/sexual assault is a BIG deal and for those that abuse it, how do we hold those people accountable or do we just believe that anyone who claims they were raped/sexually assaulted to be true and shouldn't be held accountable for a false accusation? Many of the Sailors (men and women, alike) have brought this issue up, saying it taints their overall view of this problem.
1% of rape claims are false. The answer is a swift and competent investigation. Competent and professional investigators are not easily fooled. The reason for an investigation and trial is to get to the truth. We need to stop turning this back on the victim and move forward.
Again remove the investigation from the chain of command. This is especially true if the alleged assault occurs within the command.
(3) Alcohol is a BIG influence of rape/sexual assault/harassment, so shouldn't we tackle that problem as well? If 80-90% of these cases are related to ARI's, fixing that problem could also partially fix this problem. To me, there needs to be a stronger focus on the PREVENTION of incidents (i.e. how to avoid getting into sticky situations in the first place and to stop it before it happens) with the understanding that this is a mitigating training tool -- it isn't going to prevent ALL issues.
YES!! First - let me be clear ---- Being drunk is not an excuse to RAPE or ASSAULT. Being drunk does not get you a free pass.
Having sex with a person who is passed out is RAPE.... even if the aggressor is drunk.
But, yes, you and Luigi are correct - alcohol is a problem. Young people have limited experiences with alcohol. They may not fully understand how quickly they can become very drunk.
Responsible adults do not feed alcohol to their very drunk friends. Responsible adults seek medical attention when they see people who are passed out drunk. Mids (and cadets) who serve, feed or encourage drunk peers to consume should be punished. Mids (and cadets) who fail to seek medical attention for their peers who are passed out or sick via alcohol should be punished.
(4) The recent rape acquittal of the Marine Major (former USNA instructor) shows how difficult it is to legally prove a rape/sexual assault. But in this incident, there was allegedly a few text messages exchanged between one of the witnesses and the victim that said, Witness: "What’s the story so I don’t mix it up?” -- Victim: "Say anything and everything...haha.” What I found to be disgusting (if these text messages are verbatim) is the "haha" part -- THE VICTIM is the one making a joke of rape? I certainly don't find that humorous.
Not sure what that has to do with this case. Don't fail to mention he was guilty of other charges. Rape is a very serious crime that brings many years of prison time. Not all sexual assault cases are rape.
In the above case we have a Major who had sex with mids??? Don't be happy he was acquitted of rape, be astonished that he got himself into this mess.