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SALT LAKE CITY — After a turbulent leadership change last year, the Utah National Guard is taking significant measures to understand and reduce the risk of sexual assault and harassment in its ranks.
Now, the Guard is partnering with researchers to better understand how the culture of the organization protects abusers, and has reworked how investigations are handled, tackling issues of jurisdiction that have hampered cases in the past.
Changes are coming swiftly, following the two-year investigation into former Maj. Gen. Michael Turley, who was placed on administrative leave in August 2023 after a Department of Army Inspector General's investigation into sexual misconduct resulted in a "substantiated finding." Turley retired days later, and Brig. Gen. Daniel Boyack was appointed the new adjutant general.
Lt. Col. Chris Kroeber, a spokesman for the Utah National Guard, said they are "heavily focused" on reducing the risk of sexual assault and harassment.
Ecosystems of enabling
This March, University of Utah law professor Amos Guiora began conducting research on what he calls the "ecosystem of enabling." As someone completely outside the organization, Guiora was able to speak with service members in complete anonymity to better understand the internal culture.
"The perpetrator is of zero interest to me," Guiora said. "The focus of my research is trying to understand how the attack occurred and the role of institutional complicity."
The professor has previously studied cases of sexual assault at USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University, Penn State University, Ohio State University and in the Catholic Church.
After reading Guiora's book on the subject, one service member reached out to say how "profoundly similar" the National Guard and these organizations are. "Institutional actors repeatedly demonstrate primary loyalty to the institution," Guiora said, adding that perpetrators are often protected in the name of "protecting the brand."
Success in this long-term partnership, according to Guiora, is providing a "thoughtful, intelligent report" and assisting with the implementation of actions that would hold not just abusers but enablers accountable for their role in allowing sexual violence within the system.
"Survivors will often times tell me that the long-term harm is not as a result of the actual attack," Guiora said, "but it's when they come to the realization that the attack was utterly preventable."
Clear jurisdiction
Legal jurisdiction is a "huge challenge that we've faced forever," Kroeber said. Unlike those on active duty who are investigated by military police and are subject to military courts, members of the National Guard have always been under the civilian court system.
There were significant challenges in coordinating investigations with law enforcement around the state if someone reports an assault. There was a "huge time lag in getting resolutions," Kroeber said. Many of those cases stretched on for years, with cumbersome lines of communication and multiple referral agencies creating a complex web of actors involved.
The Guard enlisted the help of the Utah Department of Public Safety to consolidate the jurisdiction for these cases. "This is a huge step for us, reducing that time to prosecute and hold perpetrators accountable," Kroeber said.
A spokesperson for the department, Hillary Koellner, said it's "pretty common for us to do investigations for executive branch departments." Its State Bureau of Investigation already handles cases for the Utah Department of Corrections, and the Juvenile Justice Services Division.
The Bureau of Investigation received an official request from the National Guard in November, and is in the process of investigating the first two cases of the partnership, which is not limited to sexual assault, but applies to all criminal matters. Koellner says it will likely take a year to determine the volume of cases they will need to handle.
Kroeber said that they have seen a small climb in reported cases, but "no strong indicators that it's a bigger problem now." It exemplifies a significant challenge for data gathering in these cases.
Across the military, the "number of individuals who report the crime to law enforcement falls far short of the number of individuals who have likely experienced the crime," according to an annual report. The latest data shows men represent both a majority of service members, and a majority of those responsible for sexual assault.
The same findings detail barriers to reporting, include fear of retaliation by superiors, a culture of loyalty, and shame surrounding the incident. "Men are far less likely to report an experience of sexual assault than women due to stigma and myths surrounding sexual assault," the report said.
Drawing from his experience with survivors of assault, Guiora said, "It's not important if it's men or women. It's the instinctual reaction of institutional actors."
