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    Tuesday, November 05, 2024

    Coast Guard Academy named in nine more sex assault complaints

    The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is seen in early evening, July 15, 2024 in New London, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

    Nine sexual assault complaints filed Wednesday on behalf of former U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets brought to 22 the total filed so far against the U.S. Coast Guard under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

    Each of the complaints seeks $10 million in damages.

    Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, a national public interest law firm, announced the latest complaints allege the Coast Guard allowed sexual violence to go unchecked at the academy in New London and “condoned and actively concealed the rampant nature of sexual assault and harassment of academy students.”

    The firm provided by email the 22 complaints, with names, dates and other identifying details redacted. It filed the first batch of complaints in early September, saying at the time it believed them to be the first known collective action by sexual violence survivors against a U.S. service academy.

    All 22 complaints ― filed on behalf of 19 women, two men and one nonbinary individual ― name as defendants the Coast Guard; its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and its former parent agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation.

    The Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA, is a statute that permits individuals to bring legal claims against federal agencies for torts, or wrongful acts, committed by their employees. Before filing an FTCA complaint in court, an individual must first file an administrative complaint against an agency, which then has six months to investigate the claim.

    An academy spokesman, David Santos, confirmed the Coast Guard was aware of the latest complaints and that federal law prevented the service from discussing them in detail.

    “The Coast Guard will work to resolve the claims in accordance with the Federal Tort Claims Act and other applicable law,” Santos wrote in an email. “Sexual assault and sexual harassment have no place in our service. The Coast Guard is committed to protecting our workforce and ensuring a safe and respectful environment that eliminates sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other harmful behaviors”

    Christine Dunn, a lawyer representing the victims, said they have not yet heard directly from the Coast Guard beyond its acknowledging the receipt of the first batch of complaints.

    “Right now, we are just at the beginning of the legal process but our clients are committed to seeing this process through in order to get justice,” she said through a spokesman for the law firm.

    The complaints filed Wednesday describe several instances in which cadets were allegedly sexually assaulted in their dorm rooms by classmates who entered their rooms without permission. Such intrusions, the law firm said, were enabled by an academy policy that kept cadets from locking their doors.

    In several cases, cadets awakened to an assailant sexually abusing them, the law firm said.

    “One claimant was so scared of being sexually assaulted in her sleep that she began sleeping in a sleeping bag that was tightly cinched shut to protect herself,” the firm said. “Additionally, many of the new claimants were assaulted by individuals in positions of authority within the academy ― positions ranging from the president of an academy club to a company commander.”

    The complaints allege the Coast Guard was negligent in responding to sexual assaults.

    “One claimant was told that though there was enough evidence to court martial their assailant, the academy opted to merely dismiss the assailant from the academy, shielding him from any criminal charges. Others were warned by older cadets that sexual assault reports were never taken seriously, and that accusers often got friends to cover for them if an investigation was opened,” the firm said.

    The FTCA complaints came in the wake of revelations about the Coast Guard’s mishandling of an internal investigation of decades of sexual misconduct at the academy. CNN, the cable news network, brought the issue to light in 2023 when it revealed the existence of the “Operation Fouled Anchor” probe, which Coast Guard leadership withheld from Congress and the public.

    U.S. Senate panels have conducted hearings on the matter and taken testimony from numerous victims of alleged sexual assaults and whistleblowers.

    b.hallenbeck@theday.com

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