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Military justice shields child sex abuse cases
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Child sex offenders are the largest category of inmates in US military prisons, yet a full accounting of their crimes and how much time they鈥檙e actually locked up for is shielded by an opaque system of justice, an Associated Press investigation has found.
Of the 1,233 inmates confined in the military鈥檚 prison network, 61 percent were convicted of sex crimes, according to the latest available data, obtained through the federal open records law. Children were the victims in over half of those cases.
Since the beginning of this year alone, service members victimized children in 133 out of 301 sex crime convictions, with charges ranging from rape to distributing child pornography. Child sex assaults in the military have received scant attention in Washington, where Congress and the Defense Department have focused largely on preventing and prosecuting adult-on-adult sex crimes.
Daniel E. DeSmit, a Marine Corps chief warrant officer, spent at least US$36,000 viewing and producing child pornography over the span of six years. In emails examined by Navy criminal investigators, DeSmit described his preference for sex with prepubescent girls as 鈥渢he best experience.鈥 A military judge in January found DeSmit, 44, guilty of a litany of sex offenses and sentenced him to 144 years behind bars.
Pretrial agreement
But he鈥檒l serve just a fraction of that. In an undisclosed pretrial agreement, the Marine Corps slashed his prison term to 20 years. When the AP asked for the investigative report into DeSmit鈥檚 case, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service rejected the Freedom of Information Act request on privacy grounds. The report was released only after the AP appealed.
The military justice system operates independently of state and federal criminal courts. The US Constitution mandates a presumption of openness in civilian courts 鈥 trials are open to the public, as are court filings, including motions and transcripts, with exceptions for documents that have been sealed.
Anyone can walk into a county or US courthouse and ask to read a case file, on demand, without providing a reason. That openness is designed to provide accountability. But visibility into military trials is minimal. Court records are released only after many Freedom of Information Act requests, appeals and fees, and often months of waiting. While military trials are technically 鈥渙pen,鈥 as are civilian trials, they take place on military bases, which are closed to the public.
Under military law, children are defined as 鈥渁ny person who has not attained the age of 16 years.鈥 Victims aged 16 and 17 are counted as adults, which is consistent with age-of-consent laws in most states.
Asked why the biggest group of inmates is behind bars for sex crimes against kids, Defense Department officials said judges and juries view these crimes as intolerable and are more likely to impose harsher prison terms. They also said military prosecutors pursue verdicts in cases their civilian counterparts would never take to court.
But the Defense Department does not make it easy for the public to learn about child sex cases. After DeSmit鈥檚 conviction in January, the Marine Corps summed it up in two sentences.
鈥淎t a General Court-Martial at Okinawa, Japan, Chief Warrant Officer 4 D. E. DeSmit was convicted by a military judge alone of conspiracy to commit sexual assault and rape of children, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, sexual abuse of a child, and possession of child pornography. The military judge sentenced the accused to 144 years of confinement, a reprimand, and dismissal,鈥 a summary of the court-martial released by the Marine Corps reads.
The most significant detail missing from the Marine Corps鈥 brief public summary was the pretrial agreement. DeSmit had struck a deal with the military, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to 18 counts, including conspiracy to commit rape of a child. His prison sentence was limited to 20 years, not 144 as the Marine Corps had publicly said.
And he will do even less time if he is eventually paroled. In the military justice system, DeSmit is eligible to be considered for release from prison after serving one-third of his term.
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