3 unnamed Naval Academy midshipmen, all of whom play or played football for the school, have been formally charged with making false official statements and sexually assaulting a female peer more than a year ago. The four remain unidentified as the case is in pretrial, known as Article 32 proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
President Obama’s comments last month on command culpability in high rates of military sexual assault, as reported by Politico.com, may have backfired. And the Senate Armed Services Commission’s review of military rape TheCelebrityCafe.com reported on two weeks ago may have had little effect. But the unnamed victim in this case took matters into her own hands when her case, after investigation, was closed without charges.
During an off-campus party at “the football house,” USAToday.com writes, the woman confessed to investigators that she drank enough alcohol to black out. She woke up bruised and, from friends and social media, learned that the three accused claimed to have had sex with her while she was intoxicated and unconscious. She had considered the three friends.
Upon reporting the incident to Navy criminal investigators, the woman was disciplined for drinking alcohol. The three men were not disciplined at all. Now, according to the AP.com, one man has been suspended from playing football pending the results of the trial.