Several U.S. Naval Academy football players will soon face charges in connection to the alleged rape of a female midshipman at an April 2012 off-campus party, officials at the elite service academy in Annapolis said Monday.
The rape allegations, as well as charges of foot-dragging by Navy investigators and academy brass, became public just as Congress was debating changes to the way the military handles sexual assault cases.
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The academy is faulted for not protecting the midshipman, who says three athletes raped her.
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Three football players allegedly boasted of having sex with drunk midshipman.
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The leaders of the service branches say that taking such cases out of commanders’ hands is a mistake.
Video
The attorney for the female midshipman who says she was raped by three Navy football players tells David Martin her client was reprimanded for drinking. The NCIS probe was dropped after a player asked her not to cooperate.
The names of the accused midshipmen were not released, nor were the specific charges. They will be included in a detailed charging document that is yet to be completed, academy spokesman John Schofield said.
The victim is a third-year midshipman. The Post generally does not publish the names of sexual assault victims.
Under military law, it was up to Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Michael H. Miller to decide whether to follow the recommendation of military prosecutors. Miller did so, meaning charges will be filed and a preliminary hearing, known as an Article 32, will be scheduled.
Miller, who has been at the helm of the school for three years, has followed such recommendations in the past without exception, Schofield said.
The charges follow a Navy Criminal Investigative Service probe that began more than a year ago. The length of the investigation drew criticism from Susan Burke, the victim’s lawyer, who accused Miller of foot-dragging.
“We are pleased at moving forward after this long delay,” Burke said.
The latest Naval Academy case joins a long string of sex assault scandals in various branches of the military, including the arrest last month of an Air Force sexual assault prevention officer on charges of sexual battery for allegedly groping a woman in a Crystal City parking lot.
An effort in the Senate to curtail the authority of commanding officers to intercede in sexual assault cases failed last week.
The rape allegations, as well as charges of foot-dragging by Navy investigators and academy brass, became public just as Congress was debating changes to the way the military handles sexual assault cases.
Related stories
Ylan Q. Mui and Theresa Vargas The academy is faulted for not protecting the midshipman, who says three athletes raped her.
Dan Morse and Craig Whitlock
Three football players allegedly boasted of having sex with drunk midshipman.
Craig Whitlock The leaders of the service branches say that taking such cases out of commanders’ hands is a mistake.
Video
The attorney for the female midshipman who says she was raped by three Navy football players tells David Martin her client was reprimanded for drinking. The NCIS probe was dropped after a player asked her not to cooperate.
The names of the accused midshipmen were not released, nor were the specific charges. They will be included in a detailed charging document that is yet to be completed, academy spokesman John Schofield said.
The victim is a third-year midshipman. The Post generally does not publish the names of sexual assault victims.
Under military law, it was up to Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Michael H. Miller to decide whether to follow the recommendation of military prosecutors. Miller did so, meaning charges will be filed and a preliminary hearing, known as an Article 32, will be scheduled.
Miller, who has been at the helm of the school for three years, has followed such recommendations in the past without exception, Schofield said.
The charges follow a Navy Criminal Investigative Service probe that began more than a year ago. The length of the investigation drew criticism from Susan Burke, the victim’s lawyer, who accused Miller of foot-dragging.
“We are pleased at moving forward after this long delay,” Burke said.
The latest Naval Academy case joins a long string of sex assault scandals in various branches of the military, including the arrest last month of an Air Force sexual assault prevention officer on charges of sexual battery for allegedly groping a woman in a Crystal City parking lot.
An effort in the Senate to curtail the authority of commanding officers to intercede in sexual assault cases failed last week.