Australian Defence Force sexual abuse suspects have risen through the ranks
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[IMG]http://www.adf.australianwarheroes.com/image/australian_war_heroes.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE]Suspected sexual predators have risen to powerful positions in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with one attaining the rank of colonel, or an equivalent post, documents released under Freedom of Information reveal.
A December 2013 ministerial briefing, signed by former defence force chief General David Hurley, shows what action was being considered to deal with allegations of abuse at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA).
In the Defence memo General Hurley advised Defence Minister David Johnston that 15 of those suspected of involvement in a series of sexual assaults, known as the ADFA 24 cases, were still serving officers.
ADFA 24 refers to about two dozen largely unresolved cases of rape and other sexual abuse at the Canberra military college in the mid to late 1990s.
Of those 15 suspects General Hurley suggested the most senior was a major or equivalent rank.
However the ABC has confirmed at least four other alleged ADFA 24 offenders now hold the rank of lieutenant colonel, a higher rank than major.
The ministerial briefing also reveals another suspected abuser was a colonel or equivalent rank.
The briefing note echoes concerns first raised in a landmark report into defence abuse by law firm DLA Piper.
That 2011 report warned: "It is possible that male cadets who raped female cadets at ADFA in the late 1990s and other cadets who witnessed such rape and did not intervene, may now be in 'middle' to 'senior' management positions in the ADF."
Last month, a former ADFA cadet – now a mid-ranking officer – told Four Corners she was forced to serve alongside a man who she says raped her at the military training institution in the late 1990s.
The ADFA 24 cases are a key focus of the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) and these documents provide an insight into the progress of its investigation of those matters.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-24/adfa-sex-suspects-are-senior-officers/5621316[/url]
Thats got to be terrifying for the victims. Christ.
It's like Russell Williams all over again, except this time in the Aussie army.
I'm not surprised. Gen. David Morrison, current Chief of the Army, may have tried to assure the public that the utmost is being done to prevent and to investigate these horrible crimes within a organisation tasked with defending the country, it sure seems it isn't working though. I believe this issue has been dealt the same way the asylum seeker crisis has been, no governmental briefings or any announcements on progress or updates on the situation.
[QUOTE]Chief of Army David Morrison's message regarding unacceptable behaviour - June 12, 2013
[video=youtube;QaqpoeVgr8U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaqpoeVgr8U[/video][/QUOTE]
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