Navy rocked by new sex assault claims

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Navy sailors are again under investigation over an alleged sex ring / file.
Source: The Daily Telegraph




THE Navy is embroiled in yet another sexual assault investigation after a young female sailor was allegedly raped aboard a mine hunting ship.


Harbourside Local Area Command is investigating the report of a sexual attack at a Sydney naval base on August 30.

A 21-year-old Navy Able Seaman has told detectives she was confronted by a 24-year-old crew member and “sexually assaulted”.

The incident was reported to Defence Force investigators on September 9, who then notified police.

“We’re still in the preliminary stages of this investigation, gathering all the information and deciding on an appropriate course of action,” Acting Superintendent Paul McDonald told The Sunday Telegraph on Friday.

Mr McDonald added that “initial interviews” had been conducted with the alleged victim, and that police were liaising with their counterparts in the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

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Defence officials publicly acknowledged the matter yesterday – eight days after the alleged incident took place – after being approached by The Sunday Telegraph.

A Defence spokesperson said: “The complainant reported the alleged incident to the Naval Police Coxswain who immediately informed his chain of command.

“Both members have been temporarily moved ashore to assist the investigation and the female sailor was reinterviewed by police yesterday.”

The investigation is the latest in a litany of dramas to hit the Australian Defence Force since the start of this year and follows a separate sexual assault exposed by The Sunday Telegraph in July.

In that case, a female sailor onboard the scandal-prone HMAS Success went to police after she was allegedly indecently assaulted by a superior officer while the vessel was docked at Garden Island.

Defence officials had been aware of the incident for five days but did not make the matter public until they were approached by this newspaper.

The 25-year-old sailor told detectives that she was cornered by a 43-year-old leading seaman inside the ship’s storeroom and informed that her “duties had changed”. He then allegedly ran one of his hands up the inside of her leg and indecently assaulted her.

The ADF has been rocked by scandals which have left its reputation as a safe place for women to work in tatters.

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