COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: Women
Pressure on Academy Rape Victims Cited
Ray Rivera, Washington Post
March 10, 2006
The
midshipman told her friends she had been raped but was reluctant to
report the incident. At the U.S. Naval Academy, her friend testified
yesterday, making sexual assault accusations can get you ostracized,
especially when the accused is a popular football player.
"Any girl at our school who turns in a guy is gonna be crucified,"
Midshipman Elizabeth Burnett said yesterday during the second day of a
preliminary hearing for Lamar S. Owens Jr., who is accused of rape,
indecent assault and conduct unbecoming an officer. "He was Midshipman
Owens. He was quarterback of the football team, a very good football
team. He leads Bible study. This was a terrible position."
Burnett's testimony highlighted a nagging problem at the academy, which
has been accused repeatedly of perpetuating an environment that is
hostile to women. The school, which began admitting women in 1976, has
been struggling to reform its culture, even as it has been hit by
recurring sexual assault and harassment scandals in recent years.
Owens's civilian attorney, Steven F. Wrobel, said yesterday that his
client engaged in "consensual acts" in the early morning of Jan. 29 and
would be cleared.
The hearing, to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed
to trial by court-martial, was suspended yesterday after the
prosecution presented evidence of two new allegations: that Owens
violated a military protective order to stay at least 100 feet away
from the woman and that he viewed pornography on his dorm room
computer, which is connected to a government network. The hearing is
set to resume April 3.
If convicted, Owens could face penalties ranging from expulsion from the service to prison time.
Owens led the Navy football team to an 8-4 record and a bowl victory
last season. He was known on campus as being deeply religious and was
voted most valuable player by his teammates. He and the woman remain in
school.
Burnett said the pressure not to report sexual assaults comes not only
from male midshipmen but also from women, who make up about 17 percent
of the 4,200-member student body.
"They'll say this is why the guys here won't date us," Burnett said,
adding that some students are distancing themselves from the
20-year-old accuser, who has not been publicly identified. The
Washington Post does not name those who allege sexual assaults.
"People are starting to find out it's her," Burnett said. "And some people are not really standing by her."
In cross-examination of witnesses, Wrobel began laying the groundwork
for what appears to be the heart of Owens's defense: that after a night
fueled by alcohol, the young man and woman engaged in consensual sex in
her dorm room.
In testimony Wednesday, the woman acknowledged that she was drinking heavily that night and that there are gaps in her memory.
Later, the prosecution played a tape in which Owens apologizes to her
repeatedly and asks whether she has been to the hospital or police.
Yesterday brought testimony from the woman's roommate and Burnett, who
both described conversations with the woman and Owens hours after the
early morning incident.
Burnett said that the woman appeared shaken Jan. 29 and was reluctant
to talk but that she finally shared her recollections in instant
messages. The woman went to the hospital Jan. 31 and reported the
incident to authorities Feb. 6.
Burnett testified yesterday that she and another midshipman, Megan
Boyd, met with Owens at his invitation Jan. 29. She said Owens seemed
remorseful and told them that he had been drinking in Baltimore that
night with other members of the football team. They asked him what
happened, Burnett said.
"I don't really remember all of it because I was drunk and so was she,
and we just started talking and things escalated," Burnett recalled him
saying. Burnett said she told him that the woman didn't see it that way.
"What? Is she calling it rape?" Burnett recalled him saying. Burnett
and Boyd each testified that Owens told them, "If someone did this to
my sister, I'd want to kill them."
Under cross-examination, Wrobel asked whether Owens might have been
remorseful at the thought of having consensual sex in a dorm room, a
violation of the honor code punishable by expulsion.
"That's fair," Burnett responded.
She also described how she and the woman had spent the hours before the
incident at Acme Bar & Grill, a popular hangout for midshipmen in
downtown Annapolis. In less than two hours, she said, they each had
eight to 10 drinks, including four shots.
Though they were only 20, getting in was easy, she said. "They don't
really check," she said. "I show them my Wisconsin driver's license and
it says under 21, and they never really question it."
Underage drinking, she added, "is a pretty serious problem at the
academy, and I admit I've done it, and I'll accept the consequences."
Acme owner Roy Dunshee said his doormen diligently check
identification. Some underage drinkers may slip through, he said, but
only with believable fake IDs. He said he has been cited for only one
violation in 11 1/2 years of owning the bar, despite regular sting
operations by police.
"We have no interest in having someone underage," he said.
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