McCaskill urges probe into allegations that female soldiers were told not to report sexual assault
U.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York are urging the Pentagon to investigate reports that female soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri were discouraged from reporting sexual assaults.
In a letter Tuesday to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the Democratic senators said they were deeply disturbed by testimony at the court-martial of Army Staff Sgt. Angel M. Sanchez, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting and harassing several female soldiers.
One of the victims testified that a superior officer told her company of trainees not to report allegations of sexual assault. Another witness said her company was told that if any more sexual assault allegations were made, the entire company would not graduate their training.
“These troubling allegations warrant an investigation,” the senators wrote to Hagel. “If none has been opened, we request that you open one immediately and keep us informed of the progress of that investigation.”
A military judge last week recommended a 20-year sentence for Sanchez, who was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault and six counts of abusive sexual contact.
Matt Campbell, mcampbell@kcstar.com
This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 6:04 PM with the headline "McCaskill urges probe into allegations that female soldiers were told not to report sexual assault."