DENVER - The Air Force said Friday it has punished 21 male
cadets for rape and other sex-related crimes since 1990, offering
the numbers as evidence that it takes sexual misconduct at the Air
Force Academy seriously.
Of the 21, five received jail time, eight were expelled and
eight were reprimanded, the Air Force said. One cadet was
exonerated, and one still faces charges.
"This information was compiled to show that senior leaders are
taking these matters seriously," said Valerie Burkes, an Air Force
spokeswoman.
The Air Force Academy has been rocked by a scandal that has been
compared to the Tailhook furor that shook the Navy in 1991. The Air
Force has said that at least 56 allegations of sexual abuse at the
academy have been reported over the past 10 years, and that there
are probably many more female cadets who have not come forward.
Last month, the academy reported that it had expelled eight male
cadets for sexual misconduct from 1995 to 2002. Those cadets were
included in the Air Force numbers released Friday.
A spokesman for Sen. Wayne Allard, a leading critic of the
academy's handling of the scandal, said the new report raised more
questions than it answered.
"While there might have been some prosecutions of rape and
sexual assault, we know that many, many cases were either not
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, were ignored or the
victim was punished," spokesman Dick Wadhams said.
He said 35 women contacted Allard alone and discussed assaults
that were not reported.
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