Thirteen former cadets from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London are taking legal action against the federal government.
The cadets say they are victims of sexual violence and their pleas for help went unanswered by Coast Guard officials.
The attorney for the cadets call this a first of its kind development under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Thirteen former cadets of the Coast Guard Academy offered graphic detail of what they say were rapes and assaults on campus while serving.
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Their attorney notes this is an important step necessary to spur action.
“There needs to be accountability, this was a systemic problem for decades at the academy,” Christine Dunn, a partner at Sanford, Heisler, Sharp, LLC said.
She is representing the former cadets as they move forward with legal action against the Academy, some who were part of a larger internal investigation into sexual misconduct back in 2014 called “Operation Fouled Anchor.”
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“Students after student after student was sexually assaulted during their time at the academy,” Dunn said.
Of the 13 complaints filed, 12 were female and one was a male. Three complaints were shared as samples of the allegations against the Coast Guard.
Jane Doe 1, as her complaint lists, described two separate rape incidents while she was a cadet. One in a dorm involving a higher-ranking cadet, the other while assigned to a ship.
“At the hotel, I was forced to be in a room alone with the chief corpsman. He locked the door and forced himself on me sexually,” she writes of the rape.
Similar accounts from other Jane Doe’s and the singular John Doe filled the pages of filings. They paint a picture of an alleged culture of reluctance to act on behalf of victims, and of cover up.
The Coast Guard’s top brass has consistently denied any intentional cover-up of sexual misconduct when responding to allegations outlined around “Operation Fouled Anchor”
“They are heart wrenching and not only just because of the sexual assault but because of the way the academy and the coast guard treated them afterward,” Dunn said.
The Coast Guard has six months to investigate the legal complaints filed, and either deny the claims, or pay out the millions in restitution requested. If the complaints are denied, the former cadets can file a lawsuit in Federal Court.
The academy has been wrestling with the release of the “operation fouled anchor” report in 2023 that investigated over 100 allegations of sexual assault and harassment within the branch and at the academy from the 1990s to 2006. The Coast Guard top brass again denies any intentional cover up.
The Coast Guard needs to acknowledge the cover up, hold accountable anyone involved in it and stop the ongoing and seemingly pervasive culture of sexual abuse and assault that is undermining our national security,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a lead senator investigating the allegations made against the Coast Guard and the Academy.
In response to the complaints issued Thursday, the Coast Guard said they received the complaints but federal law prohibits them from discussing the details.
They added, “The Coast Guard will resolve the claims in accordance with the Federal Tort Claims Act and any other applicable law. 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. This effort underscores the urgency and importance of the Coast Guard’s actions directed by the Commandant after the Accountability and Transparency Review in July of 2023, through which we are devoting significant resources to improving prevention, victim support and accountability. The Coast Guard is unwavering in our commitment to lasting institutional and cultural change, and ensuring a safe and respectful environment that is intolerant of harm."
The attorney for the cadets said in the interview that she has already had a chance to speak with a 14th former cadet stepping forward.
