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Military sex assault reports have increased 11%, Defense Department says

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 7:45 AM Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A total of 2,670 military personnel reported they were victims of sexual assault during the past year, an 11 percent increase from the prior year.

The U.S. Department of Defense released its annual report on sexual assaults in the military on Tuesday, March 16.

Those personnel accounted for 3,230 reports of sexual assault involving military personnel as either victims or perpetrators. One person could report assaults involving multiple people or multiple occurrences.

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, called the increase “alarming.”

“This increase in reported sexual assault cases in the Armed Forces, in addition to the number of cases that are not reported to military officials, highlights an urgent need for improvement within the Department of Defense,” Turner said.

The report covered fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30. The Defense Department said it has encouraged reporting of sexual assaults through multimedia awareness campaigns on military bases, including startup of a Web site at www.myduty.mil.

“The Department expects that this increase in reporting behavior reflects a greater proportion of victims coming forward, not an increase in crime,” the report said.

Sexual assault “undermines core values, degrades military readiness, subverts good will and forever changes the lives of victims and their families,” the report said.

Last week, the Air Force said it would conduct a hearing to further investigate charges that Chief Master Sgt. William C. Gurney, former adviser to the commander of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, sexually harassed 10 female airmen over two years. The public hearing is scheduled for May 26 at WPAFB.

Gurney was removed in November from his job as the command chief master sergeant after the investigation of a female airman’s complaint against him began. He remains on active duty in a desk job at AFMC headquarters and faces charges of adultery; misuse of official position; failure to obey an order or regulation, and dereliction of duty; maltreatment, indecent conduct and wrongful sexual contact. Gurney and his Air Force lawyer have declined to publicly comment about the allegations.

Tuesday’s report of sexual assaults included 714 “restricted” reports, under which service personnel may choose to obtain medical and mental health care and other services without becoming involved in the military criminal justice process. Those personnel are given up to a year to decide whether they want to change it to an “unrestricted” report of sexual assault, which could transfer the case into the military criminal justice system, Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said.

Last year, 123 victims converted their reports from restricted to unrestricted, according to the department.

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