HUNDREDS of military personnel are suspected of committing sexual offences over the past few years, including dozens of report-ed cases involving allegations of child grooming or child porn-o-graphy, confidential documents reveal. The figures, compiled from military police records, are contained in a briefing prepared for the then chief of the Australian Defence Force, General David Hurley, in May last year. They provide the first evidence of widespread sexual offending involving children within the modern ADF, as well as demonstrating the scale of the challenge facing senior commanders who have publicly committed to stamping out sexual abuse. Since 2008, there have been 104 reports of aggravated sexual assaults, including rapes by milit-ary personnel, the briefing reveals. Military investigators have also received 102 reports of "non-assaultive sexual offences against a child" over this time, almost all of which have been dealt with by civilian police. The number of these child--related crimes has remained relatively consistent over time, with 21 offences reported during the past year. Military sources said many of these were likely to involve transmitting pornography using mobile phones or over the internet, as well as a few child-grooming offences. Adair Donaldson, a lawyer representing the victims of historical military abuse, including child abuse, at the HMAS Leeuwin training base, said: "The mental scars that are left as the result of sexual offences and the abuse that has been occurring are as debilitating as a broken back." One victim of sexual abuse while in the military said it could have a lifelong effect. "It's like being in prison. You're not in prison, but you are, you're in prison in your mind," he said. The confidential briefing note, as well as other figures obtained from the ADF, also reveal the sheer scale of alleged sexual offending within the ranks. Military investigators have identified 393 "Service Suspects & Persons of Interest for Sexual -Assault and Related Offences" since 2008, the briefing states. In June last year, one month after the document was drawn up, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, promised to "be ruthless in ridding the army of people who cannot live up to its values''. "The standard you walk past is the standard you -accept," General Morrison said. More recent figures obtained by The Australian show that there were 137 reports last year of sexual offences allegedly committed by military personnel, 31 more than the year before and more than any of the five preceding years. "It is difficult to conclusively -establish (a) reduction in the incidence of unacceptable behaviour in recent years," the ADF said in a statement. "However, available evidence shows increased confidence in ADF's commitment to eliminating unacceptable behaviour and consequently increased reporting of incidences of unacceptable behaviour." Military sources confirm there has been a definite crackdown on those found to have committed sexual offences within the ranks since General Morrison's speech last year, made in the immediate aftermath of the so-called "Jedi Council'' scandal. That scandal, in which the military email system was used to exchange explicit images of women taken without their consent, led to 10 officers and soldiers being thrown out of the army. It came in the wake of the 2011 Skype scandal, in which officer cadets used the internet to broadcast a woman having sex, again without consent. In total, the military has termin-ated the careers of roughly 200 personnel, mostly from the army, in each of the past two financial years, with dozens of these decisions made "in relation to misconduct or unacceptable behaviour" or "in relation to civilian offences". "The ADF is using all available mechanisms to actively hold people who fail to live up to our values and expected behaviours to account," the ADF statement said. Defence Minister David Johnston was unavailable for comment last night. (LINK: http://ift.tt/1tm0tcI )



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"Child Porn Scandal Hits Australian Military"

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