Sexual Abuse By Military Recruiters

More Than 100 Women Raped Or Assaulted By Recruiters In Past Year

(CBS/AP)  The Associated Press generally does not name victims in sexual assault cases. For this story, the AP interviewed victims in their homes and perpetrators in jail, read police and court accounts of assaults and in one case portions of a victim's journal.

A pattern emerged. The sexual misconduct almost always takes place in recruiting stations, recruiters apartments or government vehicles. The victims are typically between 16 and 18 years old, and they usually are thinking about enlisting. They usually meet the recruiters at their high schools, but sometimes at malls or recruiting offices.

"We had been drinking, yes. And we went to the recruiting station at about midnight," begins one girl's story.

Tall and slim, her long hair sweeping down her back, this 18-year-old from Ukiah, Calif., hides her face in her hands as she describes the night when Marine Corps recruiter Sgt. Brian Fukushima climbed into her sleeping bag on the floor of the station and took off her pants. Two other recruiters were having sex with two of her friends in the same room.

"I don't like to talk about it. I don't like to think about it," she says, her voice muffled and breaking. "He got into my sleeping bag, unbuttoned my pants, and he started, well ..."

Her voice trails off, and she is quiet for a moment. "I had a freak-out session and just passed out. When I woke up I was sick and ashamed. My clothes were all over the floor."

Fukushima was convicted of misconduct in a military court after other young women reported similar assaults. He left the service with a less than honorable discharge last fall.

His military attorney, Capt. James Weirick, said Fukushima is "sorry that he let his family down and the Marine Corps down. It was a lapse in judgment."

Shedrick Hamilton uses the same phrase to describe his own actions that landed him in Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate New York for 15 months for having sex with a 16-year-old high school student he met while working as a Marine Corps recruiter.

Hamilton said the victim had dropped her pants in his office as a prank a few weeks earlier, and that on this day she reached over and caressed his groin while he was driving her to a recruiting event.

"I pulled over and asked her to climb into the back seat," he said. "I should have pushed her away. I was the adult in the situation. I should have put my foot down, called her parents."

As a result, he was convicted of third-degree rape, and left the service with an other-than-honorable discharge. He wipes the collar of his prison jumpsuit across his cheek, smearing tears that won't stop.

"I literally kick myself ... every day. It hurts. It hurts a lot. As much as I pray, as much as I work on it in counseling, I still can't repair the pain that I caused a girl, her family, my family, my kids. It's very hard to deal with," he says, dropping his head. "It's very, very hard to deal with."

Sometimes these incidents are indisputable, forcible rapes.

"He did whatever he pleased," said one victim who was 17 at the time. "... People in uniform used to make me feel safe. Now they make me feel nervous."

Other sexual misconduct is more nuanced. Recruiters insist the victims were interested in them, and sometimes the victims agree. Sometimes they even dated.

"I was persuaded into doing something that I didn't necessarily want to do, but I did it willingly," said Kelly Chase, now a Marine Corps combat photographer, whose testimony helped convict a recruiter of sexual misconduct last year.

Anita Sanchez, director of communications at the Miles Foundation, a national advocacy group for victims of violence in the military, bristles at the idea that the enlistees, even if they flirt or ask to date recruiters, are willingly having sex with them.

"You have a recruiter who can enable you to join the service or not join the service. That has life-changing implications for you as a high school student or college student," she said. "If she does not do this her life will be seriously impacted. Instead of getting training and an education, she might end up a dishwasher."

All of the recruiters the AP spoke with said they were routinely alone in their offices and cars with girls. They also all agreed that the lines were clear: Recruiters do not sleep with enlistees.

"Any recruiter that would try to claim that, 'Oh, it's consensual,' they are lying, they are lying through their teeth," said former Marine Corps recruiter Ethan Walker. "The recruiter has all the power in these situations."

In Indiana, where National Guard recruiter Sgt. Eric Vetesy has been charged with 31 counts of rape, sexual battery, official misconduct and corrupt business influence, military officials have instituted a new "No One Alone" policy to prevent further incidents.

Apparently the first of its kind in the country, the male Army National Guard recruiters in Indiana cannot be alone in offices, cars, or anywhere else with a female enlistee. If they are, they risk immediate disciplinary action. Recruiters also face discipline if they hear of another recruiter's misconduct and don't report it.

The result?

"We've had a lot fewer problems," said Lt. Col. Ivan Denton, commander of the Indiana Guard's recruiting battalion. "It's almost like we're changing the culture in our recruiting."

[panban]

Regarding Mr. Keelan%u2019s post. Rape is an emotionally charged issue for both sexes. For example, boys who have sexually abused sisters may undergo tremendous psychological duress, a small % of men have been raped, and, indeed, men who are falsely accused of any crime, including rape, suffer unjust and painful consequences. But, in no where in the article does it state that all men are rapist or have the urge to rape women. Conviction rates for the small % of men who are rapist, factoring in the > 50% of cases not reported, are 1/16, meaning 15/16 rape victims receive no justice. The effects of rape on a victim's life include increased alcohol and drug abuse, depression, and thoughts of suicide, not to mention the effects it may have on relationships with community, family, and friends. These factors rival the effects of false accusations on men's lives. Where the real question of equality comes in, though, the likelihood that %u201Cfalsely accused men" will be convicted. Given they have a 16.3% chance of ending up in prison, a very low % of rape charges are actually false (~2%), and both the "victim" and the "rapist" are subject to a similar degree of public scrutiny due to the court's recent willingness to forgo rape shield laws, we are again met with a situation that seems to favor the %u201Crapist%u201D, falsely or justly accused. As such, I iterate Mr. Keelan's astute statement "if we are to teach equal, then let's get equal". Information taken from www.rainn.org.

[dmp68]

This is nothing new. I remember in the mid-80's when I went to inquire about joining the recruiter(s) were the same way. It's sad and wrong, but it's common.

[judyreed151]

My daughter is a U.S. Marine and was raped by her recuiter. she was promised if she told the truth she would not be punished. Truth is she was punished. Her pay was taken away and she was restricted to the barracks. She was the victum here, yet she was punished. She was raped while her recuiter was in Calif. on charges of rape for a 14 and 16 yr old girls. She believed in this man and looked up to him, saying someday I want to be as good a Marine as he is. I don't know what happen to him other than he does have jail time. How much is unknown. He still called her from jail but she would not report it for fear of getting in more trouble. Lord help these young girls to tell the truth and get these men out of our armed forces. Judy Reed

[whatithink-2009]

- dippydoole

This is clearly not a racial issue, but some people prefer to turn EVERYTHING into a racial issue. Besides, your spelling is horrible.

[rickkeelean]

It's sad. Ever since High School, we have been taught about equal rights & equal treatment. The big problem here is: Some (repeat SOME not most or not all) women utilize their sexuality and sensualness to acquire "something". Yet, when they are done or bored, then they jump and claim assault, rape, sexual improprieties, etc. & our Justice System accepts their version with more weight than the accused. Don't take this wrong, YES, there are MALE manipulators who will and do take certain advantages upon women, BUT, it's not all men!It's really sad when a claim has been made and (after years of defending theirselves and being publicly "convicted") the accuser either is found to be false or admits to being false.The accused is RUINED beyond repair and the accuser is just set adrift to be forgotten. How is this just? As before, I agree that "some" accusations are true & should be prosecuted, but, what about the false ones? If we are going to teach equal, then let's get to equal!

[limonator]

Thanks lindajholt about the real nature of some females in the military- I was a senior NCO in the army and the females that were under my command, scared me more than any enemy we faced. They flirted and would wear *** items under their uniforms. I would try and counsel them, even take corrective action. But, the advice from my superiors was be very carful - if you make one mad... sexual harassment, ect ect. The big question was "do I really want to end my career today" for some female recruit. I will thank all the females I did serve with that were professionals.

[ncjoy]

Nothing New -- In August 1974, when I was 18 and going through the process of enlisting into the Army, my recruiter drove me to all of my appointments and bought me meals and was very nice and professional, until he asked me for a picture of me in a bathing suit and then took me to a drive-in movie and made out with me the night before I was leaving for basic training. Of course, that was only the first of many times, in my 12 years of service, that senior NCOs and officers (most of whom were married at the time) wanted to get in my pants. I had to constently work to keep things professional and not let myself be used by them. Many female soldiers loved getting that kind of attention. My roommate in Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gordon had an ongoing affair with her Drill Instructor from basic (a married man) and I did end up going out with my First Sergeant and then marrying him and then divorcing him after he started having *** with another married female soldier in his unit. *** in the service happens a lot. It happens more than people realize. There is a lot of flirting going on between the sexes and the girls usually only report anything when they've thought that they were going to get more out of it than they did (such as special treatment or even marriage) and then they feel cheated and want to get even.