FOXNews.com: Heads of U.S. military fight to keep their authority over sexual assault cases

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Heads of U.S. military fight to keep their authority over sexual assault cases Jun 4th 2013, 13:56 WASHINGTON –  The nation's top military leaders fought Tuesday to keep their authority over sexual assault and harassment cases in the U.S. armed forces despite a recent spike in allegations of abuse within the ranks. In a rare appearance, the service chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard all testified at the packed Senate hearing.   Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that commanders are critical to the legal system and said stripping commanders of their authority could adversely affect the mission. "The role of the commander is essential," Dempsey said during questioning by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Levin, who led the hearing, said the problem of sexual assault "is of such a scope and magnitude that it has become a strain on our military." In recent weeks, lawmakers led by Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have backed legislation that would remove commanders from the process of deciding whether serious crimes, including sexual misconduct cases, go to trial. That judgment would rest with experienced trial counsels who have prosecutorial experience and hold the rank of colonel or above. In a recent report, the Pentagon estimated as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, up from an estimated 19,000 assaults in 2012, based on an anonymous survey of military personnel. While the number of sexual assaults that members of the military actually reported rose 6 percent to 3,374 in 2012, thousands of victims were still unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs aimed at curbing the crimes, the report said. In the past few months, there have been a number of high-profile cases that eventually led Congress to take up the topic of sexual assault in the military.   Last week, the Pentagon said the U.S. Naval Academy is investigating allegations that three football team members sexually assaulted a female midshipman at an off-campus house more than a year ago. A lawyer for the woman says she was "ostracized" on campus after she reported it. In recent weeks, a soldier at the U.S. Military Academy was charged with secretly photographing women, including in a bathroom. The Air Force officer who led the service's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit was arrested on charges of groping a woman. And the manager of the Army's sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., was relieved of his post after his arrest in a domestic dispute with his ex-wife. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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