Falsely accused of rape, how can a Military Leader regain their credibility and their career?

2015-07-29T08:53:32-04:00

I know that false rape accusations are far less common that substantiated rape claims, but how does service member recover from being falsely accused. I know two different people who were falsely accused, one NCO and one Officer, both struggled to regain their credibility, confidence and reputation. Unfortunately both of them decided to separate from the Military and its a shame because they were both highly regarded and trusted leaders before the accusations and things were never the same after the allegations.

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Response by TSgt David L. made Jul 29 at 2015 9:14 AM

2015-07-29T09:14:26-04:00

It's hard to put the genie back in the bottle. Innocent or not, once your name is associated with any crime, there will always be a dark cloud when your name comes up. "SSG Snuffy? I heard he raped one of his female troops one night on an FTX." It will always come up. I would always feel like folks were talking behind my back. Innocent or not. Just my opinion.

Response by CMSgt Mark Schubert made Jul 29 at 2015 10:01 AM

2015-07-29T10:01:26-04:00

I think the answer is to not put yourself in a bad position to begin with and you are MUCH less likely to have to worry about this question! :-)
"The allegation, as is typical, stemmed from a night of heavy drinking by all involved."
Fix the root cause - it's not about trying to recover from a bad spot - if you don't get IN a bad spot, you won't have these problems!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 29 at 2015 10:21 AM

2015-07-29T10:21:00-04:00

I think that it can be very difficult to recover from a false accusation. There will likely be media attention to such a case, and a whole lot more people read salacious details of a pending or ongoing case than the article about being found innocent of all charges. The cloud of suspicion follows them.

What is supposed to happen is an Article 32 hearing should allow for discovery by the defense and clear out weak or unsubstantiated cases before court-marshal. With the political climate being what it is, I would expect that fewer cases will be resolved at the Article 32 hearings.

The thing is, the accused has rights, and through the evidence, testimony, or technical means be found not guilty or the case dropped or lesser charges found more appropriate. If the accused is found not guilty, the command has some responsibility to resolve residual issues in the unit by reassigning one or both parties. If the complaint was found false, a prosecution of the complainant should be looked at... but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Sexual Assault is a scourge to units and I have no issue with running to ground any complaint issued to the fullest extent. That is our duty.

Response by Sgt Jerami Ballard made Jul 29 at 2015 11:36 AM

2015-07-29T11:36:28-04:00

The short answer is you don't. I've seen this exact situation firsthand with a Marine I ended up having to "babysit."

He was accused of rape by an admin Marine, about halfway through the court martial it had become apparent that his accuser had lied and falsified multiple statements. He was acquitted, the charges were dropped, but the damage was done.

He had been out of training and his job for the better part of 7 months. When he finally got back in, his comp score to pick up had been zeroed out because he couldn't shoot on the rifle range, the immediate command in charge of him refused to let him run his CFT, he also couldn't keep up with his required MOS training because he wasn't allowed into his jobspace (a restricted area).

Because his score was zeroed out, he got denied for re-enlistment and was being associated with the crime he didn't commit by all of the people handling his paperwork. He got held back from his EAS cause his paperwork was "fucked" up. (I.e. not done by the appropriate levels of admin.)

The poor guy went from damn fine Marine with a career ahead of him to suffering his last 10 months in the Marine Corps because of a false allegation.

Oh yeah, and the Marine who filed the false charges, no administrative action taken regarding the false allegation, false police report, and slander.

While I d believe that those convicted of rape should suffer harsh punishments for their crimes, I also believe in innocence until proven guilty, which is the complete opposite of what this administration has done in regards to prosecution of these cases. Like it or not, the burden of proof lies with the accuser, more often than not, that's the only fair treatment that the accused may get as in many states, when convicted of a sexual crime nowadays, you don't even get the right to face your accuser anymore.

Response by SFC Pete Kain made Dec 20 at 2015 3:56 PM

2015-12-20T15:56:18-05:00

Like a Court martial, even if found not guilty, you still have it on your record. Getting your reputation back is a long shot.

Response by PFC Noah Gehin made Jun 15 at 2019 1:11 AM

2019-06-15T01:11:14-04:00

Well we can try to inprove through teaching are recruits that they have nothing to fear from ncos