Former cadets accuse the Coast Guard Academy of failing to stop sexual violence

Thirteen former cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy accused the Connecticut school's supervisors on Thursday of failing to prevent and even covering up sexual violence on campus. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, they each demanded ten million dollars in damages.

The former cadets, all of whom allege they were sexually abused at the academy from the 1980s through the recent past, 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 failed to implement appropriate policies and practices that allowed sexual violence to go unpunished at the academy in New London, Connecticut, and that officials covered up the frequency of sexual assault and harassment at the school.

Coast Guard officials said in a statement that the agency had received the complaints but was prohibited from discussing them under federal law. They said the agency “dedicates significant resources to improving prevention, victim assistance and accountability.”

“Sexual assault and sexual harassment have no place in our service,” the statement said. “The Coast Guard is committed to protecting our workforce and ensuring a safe and respectful environment free from sexual assault, sexual harassment and other harmful behavior.”

The complaints follow revelations that the Coast Guard kept secret an investigation called 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, even shielding some perpetrators from prosecution.

The revelations, first reported by CNN, sparked calls for sweeping reforms and long-awaited accountability for perpetrators and their protectors. Several government and congressional investigations are examining the handling of serious misconduct at the school and elsewhere.

“What happened to these people at the academy has affected them for the rest of their lives,” says Christine Dunn, an attorney representing the former cadets. “Some of them still suffer from acute post-traumatic stress disorder. Their careers are ruined by it. And their marriages are destroyed by it.”

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

Among the former cadets who filed complaints Thursday is a woman referred to in the newspapers as Jane Doe 1, who said she was raped twice at the academy and later, after graduating from the school, was gang raped multiple times while serving on a ship.

After the first rape on campus, she didn't think she could report it because it would have been her word against that of the popular cadet who attacked her. She also said she's heard of other female cadets who weren't believed when they came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.

About a year later, she informed a campus official of the attack but did not provide details or the name of the alleged attacker. The official did not officially report the incident, she said. Years later, she reported the incident herself to Coast Guard officials. Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the alleged attacker, but were dropped, she said. Officials told her too much time had passed for a successful prosecution, she said.

She said she did not feel able to report the subsequent rapes.

“The Coast Guard's culture of silence and victim blaming prevented me from immediately reporting what happened to me each time and caused me to completely lose my physical, emotional and mental stability,” she said in her complaint.

She said she suffered not only mental anguish but also physical trauma. She said she has chronic pain as a result of the attacks, including pelvic pain and migraines, and she has had to undergo several abdominal surgeries as a result of her injuries, including a hysterectomy.

Another former cadet, Jane Doe 2, said she was raped at the academy but did not immediately report it because other women who made similar allegations were treated differently. She said when she reported it to a supervisor, she was never called as a witness as part of an investigation. She also claimed school officials discouraged her from reporting the rape and said her written statement about the attack was lost.

She said the psychological and physical trauma she suffered affected her career and personal life, including poor performance reviews and the end of her first marriage.

“I suffer from chronic insomnia and constantly have to make sure my sleeping and living areas are secure and all doors are locked,” she said in her complaint. “I have severe anxiety. I have stress-related health problems including hypothyroidism, infertility, heart problems and lack of sexual satisfaction. This has damaged my current marriage.”

After such lawsuits are filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the Coast Guard has six months or more to investigate the allegations. If the Coast Guard dismisses the lawsuits, the former cadets could file lawsuits in federal court, Dunn said.

The former cadets' lawyers expect that more victims will come forward as a result of the complaints filed on Thursday.

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