U.S. Naval Academy Files Rape Charges Against 3 Navy Football Players for Sexual Assault on Female Midshipman in 2012 (VIDEOS)
The U.S. Naval Academy filed on Wednesday rape charges against three Naval football players for the sexual assault of a female midshipman in April 2012. The incident happened at an off-campus house in Annapolis.
Besides the rape charges, the academy also filed charges of sexual assault or other sexual misconduct and for making a false official statesmen against the three unnamed cadets.
However, reports said two of the cadets played until the last season but have removed from the football team, and the third one is still on the team but suspended pending the result of the case.
Commander John Schofield, spokesman of the academy, declined to further comment on the case since it is still in the pre-trial stage.
Susan Burke, the lawyer of the female victim, said the midshipman woke up with bruises following a night of heavy drinking and later learned from friends and posts in social networking sites Facebook and Twitter that the three football players whom she considered friends claimed to have sex with her while she was intoxicated and unconscious.
The lawyer said that even if the case would be successfully prosecuted, the large problem of rape cases in the military would remain so long as the institution is controlled by untrained and biased commanders whose careers could be placed on the line resulting in cover up of cases such as what happened with her client.
Ms Burke disclosed that the academy closed a probe into the rape accusation in 2012 without charges being filed. The Navy only agreed to reopen the investigation in 2013 after the victim sought legal assistance. She said there are wiretapped conversations that would back the female cadet's claim of rape.
On Monday, Vice Admiral Michael Miller, superintendent of the academy, said the case will be forwarded to Article 32 proceedings to determine sufficiency of evidence for a court martial.
The reopening of the investigation comes just weeks after Pentagon released a study that 26,000 U.S. service personnel had reported unwanted sexual contact in 2012.
The case will likely be closely monitored by the public over how the U.S. military handles sexual violence within the institution. Ironically, the victim was disciplined for underage drinking since she was 20 at the time of the incident, while the three players went scot free, Ms Burke pointed out.
She added the victim was even made to attend football games while the three players were under investigation.
