The U.S. Coast Guard Academy concealed the results of an investigation showing rampant sexual assault and poor discipline at the academy for years, according to CNN, which says it has viewed a 2019 draft of the probe’s conclusions.
Begun in 2014, the probe, dubbed “Operation Fouled Anchor,” discovered more than 90 sexual assault cases from the 1980s through 2006 that mainly concluded without criminal prosecution for the perpetrator, often ruling that victims failed to sufficiently resist assault, CNN reported, citing the internal records. Coast Guard leaders, some of whom had studied or served with the alleged perpetrators, shut down Operation Fouled Anchor even though the investigation unearthed significant violations that went unaddressed at the time.
“This investigation made clear that the [school’s] leadership was more concerned at that time about organizational and [Coast Guard Academy] reputation than about the victims of crimes who were members of our service,” the 2019 draft report states, according to CNN.
Officials briefed members of Congress on the investigation’s findings in June, apparently after inquires to the Coast Guard by CNN after the outlet reviewed internal documents related to the investigation, CNN reported. Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin sent a letter to the service on Friday questioning why the investigation was held secret and how the service failed “to appropriately discipline individuals who were investigated and remain (or remained) in the Coast Guard.”
By the time of their revealing, at least 40 cases exceeded the time limitations for local or federal criminal prosecution, and the alleged attackers were no longer under the Coast Guard’s jurisdiction, CNN reported. No action was taken.
Perpetrators in some cases were separated from the academy, while others faced lighter discipline in the form of lowered class standing and extra homework, according to CNN. Many went on to become high-ranking officers in the Coast Guard and U.S. military, retiring with full pension and benefits.
Two of the accused were quietly persuaded to retire from the Coast Guard without formal prosecution, the investigation showed, according to CNN.
Testimony included in the investigation detailed accounts of survivors who continued to wrestle with emotional and psychological damage for years afterward, harming their personal lives and careers.
“I upheld the Coast Guard Corps Values and an individual that assaulted me and other women retired honorably with higher benefits than I did,” Kerry Karwan, a Coast Guard veteran, wrote in a 2018 letter to academy officials and former President Donald Trump that was included in the investigation’s supporting documentation, according to CNN. “We are a service that saves people for a living. I’d like to think our own service members are people worth saving.”
Many victims left the academy.
“There was a disturbing pattern of not treating reported sexual assaults as criminal matters,” the Coast Guard’s draft report allegedly stated.
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. The Coast Guard did not respond to CNN.
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