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Report: Military pursued 70 percent more sexual assault cases last year
The military has increasingly pursued sexual assault cases in the past year amid pressure from the public and Congress, increasing the number of cases sent to courts martial by 70 percent from 2009, an investigation by McClatchy found.
The newspaper chain reviewed nearly 4,000 sexual assault cases and found that only 27 percent of defendants in cases of rape or aggravated sexual assault charges were convicted of those crimes or other serious offenses.
That compares to the military’s 90 percent overall conviction rate.
"It may be true that years ago some of these allegations weren't given the attention they deserved,” Victor Kelley, a defense attorney with the law firm National Military Justice Group, told McClatchy. “But now many of them are given more deference than they're due.”
The issue of reforming the way the military handles sexual assault cases has been debated in Congress. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and others have called for an autonomous office that would handle the cases.
