Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Things that undermine people’s faith in the workings of the military justice system

A Navy lieutenant was found by social workers in the city of Virginia Beach to have committed child abuse, and signed a decree admitting to Level 2 abuse, according to a report by Bill Sizemore of the Virginian Pilot. Yet the officer remains in the Navy — which never investigated the case at the time.    ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy

A Navy lieutenant was found by social workers in the city of Virginia Beach to have committed child abuse, and signed a decree admitting to Level 2 abuse, according to a report by Bill Sizemore of the Virginian Pilot. Yet the officer remains in the Navy -- which never investigated the case at the time.   

A Navy lieutenant was found by social workers in the city of Virginia Beach to have committed child abuse, and signed a decree admitting to Level 2 abuse, according to a report by Bill Sizemore of the Virginian Pilot. Yet the officer remains in the Navy — which never investigated the case at the time.   

Skeptical? Try this: "In a tearful interview with a social worker, the daughter said her father took her into a bedroom, locked the door, pinned her down by her wrists and raped her, city records obtained by The Pilot show. She said the assault followed two years of inappropriate touching by her father."

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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