The Pentagon says it does not know how often the children of service members sexually assault one another on military bases.
To answer that question, The Associated Press filed dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests with the main law enforcement agencies for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, as well as with the Pentagon school system that educates elementary and secondary students on installations worldwide.
AP sought information on sex assaults reported on base from the start of 2007 through the summer of 2017, in which both the civilian victim and offender were under 18.
Not all records were available. The Pentagon’s school system, for example, said it destroys records after five years. When documents were provided, agencies excluded details they said might identify juveniles.
Based on initial responses, AP tallied 391 sexual assaults that fit its study criteria, including:
AP identified an additional 205 cases, mostly from a database in which school administrators can log student misconduct. Reporters discovered the existence of the database after the school system had provided its official count. Eventually, the school system released logs showing 157 confirmed cases of sexual misconduct, mostly fondling and groping that fit the criteria for a federal felony sex assault charge. AP did not count some cases described as “inappropriate touching” or “sexual harassment” because of a lack of details. Administrators noted that school officials weren’t required to use the database, and last year one third did not.
AP found 48 other cases, most of them criminally investigated, through interviews and a sampling of state and local authorities, who on some bases have policing or prosecutorial power.
