Former Cadets Accuse Coast Guard Academy of Failure to Stop Sexual Assault | News, Sports, Jobs

FILE – The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is seen Sept. 14, 2020, in New London, Connecticut. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

Thirteen former U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets accused the Connecticut school’s board of directors Thursday of failing to prevent and covering up sexual violence on campus. They are seeking $10 million in damages each in a federal lawsuit.

Former cadets who say they were sexually harassed at the academy from the 1980s until recently have filed administrative complaints under the Federal Tort Claims Act against the Coast Guard, its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and its former parent agency, the Department of Transportation.

They allege that the Coast Guard, by failing to implement appropriate policies and practices, allowed sexual violence to go unchecked at the academy in New London, Connecticut, and that officials covered up incidents of sexual assault and harassment at the school.

Coast Guard officials said in a statement that the service has received complaints but is prohibited by federal law from discussing them. They said the service “devoting significant resources to improving prevention, victim support and accountability.”

“Sexual assault and sexual harassment have no place in our Service” we read in the statement. “The Coast Guard is committed to protecting its workforce and providing a safe and respectful environment that eliminates sexual assault, sexual harassment and other harmful conduct.”

The complaints follow revelations that the Coast Guard conducted a secret investigation, known as Operation Fouled Anchor, into sexual assault and harassment on campus. The investigation found that dozens of cases involving cadets between 1990 and 2006 were mishandled by the school, including preventing prosecution of some perpetrators.

The revelations, first reported by CNN, have prompted calls for major reforms and long-overdue accountability for perpetrators and those who protected them. Multiple government and congressional investigations are underway into mishandling serious misconduct in and out of school.

“What happened to these people at the academy affected them throughout their lives” said Christine Dunn, an attorney representing the former cadets. “Some of them still have active PTSD. Their careers have been ruined as a result. Their marriages have been ruined as a result.”

Coast Guard officials have previously said they are taking steps to change and improve the culture at the academy and the service in response to allegations raised during the Fouled Anchor investigation.

Among the former cadets who filed the complaint Thursday was a woman identified in newspapers as Jane Doe 1. The woman says she was raped twice at the academy and later gang-raped multiple times while serving on a ship after graduating.

After the first rape on campus, she said she didn’t think she could report it because it would be her word against the word of a well-liked senior cadet who she said had assaulted her. She also said she’s heard of other cadets who weren’t believed when they came forward with allegations of sexual harassment.

About a year later, she said she informed a college official that she had been attacked, although she did not provide details or the name of the alleged attacker. The official did not report it officially, she said. Years later, she reported it to Coast Guard officials herself. Disciplinary action was taken against the alleged attacker, but it was dropped, she said. Officials told her too much time had passed to effectively prosecute, she said.

She said she did not feel able to report further rapes.

“The culture of silence and victim blaming that prevailed in the Coast Guard prevented me from immediately reporting what happened to me and caused me to completely lose my balance physically, emotionally and mentally” she said in her complaint.

She said she not only suffered mentally but physically as well. She said she suffered chronic pain from attacks, including pelvic floor pain and migraines, and had several abdominal surgeries, including a hysterectomy, because of the injuries.

Another former cadet, named Jane Doe 2, said she was raped at the academy but did not report it immediately because of how other women were treated when they came forward with similar allegations. She said that when she reported it to a supervisor, she was never called to testify as part of any investigation. She also claimed that school officials discouraged her from reporting the rape and said her written statement about the assault was lost.

She stated that the traumatic mental and physical experience affected her career and personal life, including causing low job evaluations and the breakdown of her first marriage.

“I have chronic insomnia and have to constantly make sure my sleeping and living space is safe and all doors are locked” she said in her complaint. “I have severe anxiety. I have experienced stress-related health problems, including hypothyroidism, infertility, spinal problems and sexual dissatisfaction. It has damaged my current marriage.”

Once such complaints are filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the Coast Guard has six months or more to investigate the allegations. If the service dismisses the complaints, the former cadets can file federal lawsuits, Dunn said.

Attorneys for the former cadets say they expect more victims to come forward because of the complaints filed Thursday.

“Today marks a historic turning point in how the Coast Guard Academy addresses the epidemic of sexual violence.” said J. Ryan Melogy, another attorney for the former cadets. “For too long, the Coast Guard has relied on a culture of silence, fear and retaliation to keep survivors from demanding accountability for the terrible injustices they experienced as cadets.”

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