WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Pentagon study shows that the number of sexual assaults reported by members of the military rose from 3,192 to 3,374 in 2012, while the department estimates that as many as 26,000 service members were assaulted, based on anonymous surveys, officials said Tuesday.
The troubling trends underscore service members' continued reluctance to come forward and formally report attacks. And the numbers highlight the dismal results that military leaders have achieved in their efforts to change the culture within the ranks. The numbers are included in the latest annual report on sexual abuse in the military, which comes just days after the arrest on sexual battery charges of an Air Force officer who headed the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., told Air Force officials at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday that "while under our legal system everyone is innocent until proven guilty, this arrest speaks volumes about the status and effectiveness of (the Defense) department's efforts to address the plague of sexual assaults in the military."
Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force's chief of staff, told the committee that he and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley were "appalled" by Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinki's arrest. Although the case is being adjudicated by the Arlington County police, Welsh said the Air Force has requested jurisdiction.
