The Senate committee that oversees the U.S. military ordered an independent investigation of how the Defense Department handles sexual violence among children on bases as part of legislation that would overhaul how the Pentagon must respond when assaults are reported.
Military officials had quietly resisted an outside review of problems documented in an Associated Press investigation , which showed broad failures of justice when military kids sexually assault each other on bases worldwide.
As part of annual legislation that sets Pentagon policy priorities, the Senate Armed Services Committee included bipartisan proposals to fix juvenile justice on military installations and protect student victims at Pentagon-run schools.
The committee also directed the Defense Department’s independent watchdog agency to investigate.
Sens. John McCain and Jack Reed, the committee’s top Republican and Democrat, had asked Defense Secretary James Mattis in March to task his department’s inspector general to do a “comprehensive assessment” of policies.
Instead, Mattis’ office decided the Pentagon would lead the assessment itself.
Explaining that decision, Maj. Carla Gleason said Friday: “We have different investigative tools at our disposal and we choose the appropriate tool for the situation.”
But Gordon Heddell, the Pentagon inspector general from 2008 through 2011, said he could not recall an instance when a defense secretary declined to pass along a committee request.
