17 Veterans Sue Pentagon Over Rape Cases

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2011 -- Fifteen female and two male veterans accused the military of ignoring reports of sexual abuse and rape by fellow service members in a federal class-action lawsuit filed today, hoping they will pressure the military to change the way sexual assault cases are handled.

"This is a story that only begins with rape and sexual trauma. It's a story about the failure of one of the most trusted institutions in American life -- our military," said Keith Rohman, president of Public Interest Investigations in Los Angeles, the lead investigators on the litigation.

The lawsuit, which names Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld as defendants, details 16 alleged sexual assault cases that occurred in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Reserves that the plaintiffs say military commanders mishandled.

In many of the cases, the alleged victims were forced to continue to live among and work alongside the people they said assaulted them.

Each of the allegations of sexual abuse occurred while the service members were on active duty, including some in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In the most recent assault case described in the lawsuit, one plaintiff, an aviator in the Navy serving at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, was drugged and gang raped by two of her colleagues just this past December, ending her career in the military.

Last year, the military received 3,292 reports of sexual assault involving service members according to military data. Victims have the option of filing a "restricted" report that remains confidential and allows them to receive medical attention without triggering an investigation.

An unrestricted report prompts an investigation to pursue the assailant but does not guarantee confidentiality.

In 2006, Sarah Albertson, then a 22-year-old corporal in the Marine Corps, said she was raped by a fellow Marine, who held a higher rank.

Hesitant to file the report, she waited two days following the assault to report it to her command at the urging of a friend in whom she confided.