Double-Digit Increase In Reported Sexual Assaults At Military Academies

The Pentagon's latest report on sexual assault at the three military academies finds sexual assault reports jumped by 23 percent over the past year. But DoD says combined with other findings in the annual study, the figure is not necessarily bad news.

The report to Congress lists 80 sexual assaults reported at the service academies in the 2011-2012 school year, compared with 65 the year before. Fifteen of the victims were at the Army's West Point, 13 at the U.S. Naval Academy and 52 at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Thirteen of them happened before the victim entered military service.

Maj. Gen. Gary Patton, the director of DoD's sexual assault prevention and response office, said each of those reports reflects the fact that someone was the victim of a heinous crime. But DoD sees the trend lines as positive in one respect.

"Because sexual assault is a grossly unreported crime, not only in the military but in society, we view an increase in reports as a positive trend that's indicative of an increase in victim confidence," he said. "We view any report being positive, because it means they're receiving some sort of care."

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