Military given goal to curb sex crimes

Saturday, December 21, 2013

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Friday gave the military a one-year deadline to better prevent and respond to a wave of sexual assault in the ranks and warned that if progress isn’t made, he will consider tougher reforms than those approved by Congress.

The ultimatum from their commander in chief and pressure from lawmakers puts the onus on the Pentagon to live up to its vows ofzero tolerance for sexual assault, or face the potential of losing authority to prosecute offenders in its own courts.

“So long as our women and men in uniform face the insider threat of sexual assault, we have an urgent obligation to do more to support victims and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes, as appropriate under the military justice system,” Obama said in a statement issued hours after the Senate sent a bill for his signature that would crack down onthe crime.

The president said he wants Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to report back to him by Dec. 1, 2014, on improvements they’ve made preventing and responding to sexual assault.

“If I do not see the kind of progress I expect, then we will consider additional reforms that may be required to eliminate this crime from our military ranks and protect our brave service memberswho stand guard for us every day at home and around the world,” Obama said in the statement, his first comments in response to sexual assault legislation that has been furiously debated on Capitol Hill in recent months.

The Pentagon estimates that 26,000 military members were victims last year.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 12/21/2013