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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel addresses a news conference in this file photo. Hagel's staff is drafting a directive to deal with sexual misconduct issues in the military in the wake of an investigation involving an Army sergeant.
(The Associated Press)
The Army is investigating "abusive sexual contact" and other allegations against a soldier assigned to coordinate a sexual assault prevention program at Fort Hood, Texas.
The announcement Tuesday by Army officials came a little more than a week after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against an officer in charge of the Air Force's sexual assault prevention office.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has told President Obama about the new case and is having his staff draft a directive to address a growing sexual assault problem in the military, according to an Associated Press report Wednesday carried on U-Tsandiego.com.
George Little, Hagel's spokesman, said Hagel and Obama agree:
The Army did not identify the Fort Hood soldier under investigation by name but said he is a sergeant first class who oversaw a battalion-level sexual assault prevention program, USA Today reported.
The soldier has been relieved of his duties while he is being investigated for abusive sexual contact, pandering, assault and maltreatment of subordinates, the newspaper's website said. No charges have been filed.
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command special agents are conducing the investigation, CNN.com said.
The Associated Press, in an earlier story posted on U-Tsandiego.com, said the allegations involve three women and that he he may have arranged for one of the women to have sex for money. The defense official, who was not further identified by AP, said it was not yet clear whether the sergeant forced the woman into prostitution.
The sergeant also is being investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting one of the other two women, the source said. The allegations involving the third woman were not known, AP said.
Reports of sex abuse crimes in the military are "heart-wrenching and sickening," Army Secretary John McHugh reportedly told the House Appropriations Committee Defense subcommittee. The remarks by the former North Country congressman were contained in the statement on the Fort Hood case released by the Army and reported by CNN.
Several lawmakers expressed outrage, among them U.S. Kirsten Gillibrand, AP said. Gillibrand, D-NY, plans to introduce legislation Thursday that would change the military justice system "by removing chain of command influence from the prosecution of these crimes," according to a statement on her website.
The case comes in the wake of a misdemeanor sexual battery charge against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, former head of the Air Force's sexual assault branch.
Police say Krusinski, 41, was drunk on May 5 when he approached a woman in a suburban Washington, D.C., parking lot and grabbed her buttocks and breasts, according to The Washington Post. His trial is set for July 18. He has been removed from his position, the Air Force has said.
It also comes the week after the Pentagon estimated in a report that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted in 2012. Of those cases, fewer than 3,400 were reported, officials said. The estimates were based on survey results.
Meanwhile, the Air Force continues an investigation into more than 30 Air Force instructors for assaults on trainees at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
What steps should the Pentagon take to reduce sexual misconduct and assaults by military members? Please leave a comment below.