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More former Connecticut cadets accuse the Coast Guard of failing to prevent sexual assaults on campus

Posted on by L. Dreeye
More former Connecticut cadets accuse the Coast Guard of failing to prevent sexual assaults on campus

  • Susan Hay, Associated Press

Nine more former cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy have formally accused officials at the prestigious military academy of failing to prevent, adequately address and cover up sexual assault on campus.

The lawsuits filed Wednesday come more than a month after 13 former cadets filed similar federal lawsuits seeking $10 million in damages each.

Many of the latest unnamed plaintiffs contacted attorneys in the case after reading news reports about the first batch of administrative complaints filed against the Coast Guard; its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security; and its former parent agency, the Department of Transportation, said attorney Christine Dunn.

“I am sure that these 22 are just the tip of the iceberg. I know that sexual assault has been happening at the Coast Guard Academy for decades and that there are many survivors there,” she said. The 22 includes 20 women and two men.

Dunn said she hopes and expects more former cadets who were attacked will come forward.

“I need an army of survivors,” she said. “I think the more people you have, the harder it is to ignore us.”

The complaints against the New London, Connecticut school stem from incidents dating back to the 1980s and as recently as 2017. Some detail how former cadets were attacked in their dorm rooms by classmates who were able to enter because Academy policy did not allow cadets to lock themselves in. their doors. One former student said she went to bed at night with a sleeping bag tied tightly around her neck because she was so afraid of being sexually assaulted in her sleep.

“The Coast Guard negligently created, condoned, and actively concealed the rampant nature of sexual harassment and assault at the Academy, knowingly putting me and other cadets in danger,” wrote one of the nine new plaintiffs.

“What happened to me was a completely preventable result of negligent actions,” wrote the woman, who said she was sexually assaulted twice while attending the academy — once by a classmate and once by an officer. Years later, she was diagnosed with depression and military sexual trauma-related post-traumatic stress disorder, or MST, and now receives partial disability payments.

She said the academy experience “destroyed” her career and “negatively affected” many of the relationships she had over the years.

A message was left seeking comment from the Coast Guard. In a statement released in September, officials said federal law prohibited the service from discussing complaints and noted that it was “devoting significant resources to improving prevention, victim support and accountability.” »

The complaints follow reports that the Coast Guard kept secret an investigation called “Operation Foul Anchor” into sexual assault and harassment on campus. The investigation found that the school mishandled dozens of cases involving cadets between 1990 and 2006, including preventing some perpetrators from being brought to justice.

The revelations, first reported by CNN, have sparked calls for major reforms and long-awaited accountability for the perpetrators and those who protected them. The government and Congress conduct numerous investigations to identify cases of serious misconduct in and outside of school.

Coast Guard officials previously said they were taking steps to change and improve the culture at the academy and the service in response to allegations made during the Operation Foul Anchor investigation.

Wednesday’s filing was the first in a multi-step process of trying to sue the federal government. Once an administrative complaint is filed, the agency that allegedly caused harm to the plaintiff is given six months or more to investigate the claim. The agency can then settle or deny the claim. If the suit is dismissed, the plaintiff could file a federal lawsuit, Dunn said.