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Assault-Prevention Officer in Air Force Is Arrested

The officer in charge of sexual assault prevention programs for the Air Force was arrested early Sunday and charged with sexual battery, the Arlington County, Va., Police Department said on Monday.

The police said the officer, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, approached a woman in a parking lot in Crystal City, near the Pentagon, just after midnight and grabbed her breasts and buttocks before she fended him off and called 911. Colonel Krusinski, who the police said did not know the woman, was arrested near the parking lot shortly after.

Colonel Krusinski was released on $5,000 bail on Sunday. A booking photo released after his arrest showed him with facial cuts, but a police department spokesman said those wounds had not been sustained during his arrest.

An Air Force spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley, said Colonel Krusinski had been removed from his job as chief of the sexual assault prevention and response branch. He had been in the job for about two months.

The Air Force has come under sharp criticism in recent years for a string of sexual assault cases. In March, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel began a review of the decision by an Air Force general to dismiss an officer’s sexual assault conviction.

RayThom wrote:... that those in charge of upholding moral standards and virtue always seem to be the root cause at the very core of the problem?

President Barack Obama has said sexual harassment and assault will not be tolerated in the US military.

His spoke as figures showed reported sexual assaults in the US military rose from 3,192 to 3,374 in 2012.

But as many attacks go unreported, officials estimate the total number of sexual assaults stands at 26,000, up from 19,000 last year.

It comes after the officer tasked with stopping sexual crimes in the US Air Force was charged with sexual battery.

Lt Col Jeff Krusinski, 41, was arrested on Sunday accused of grabbing a woman's breasts and buttocks in a car park in Virginia, police said.

The Air Force has been criticised after a slew of sexual assault cases at its main training centre in Texas.

Lord Jim wrote: What the military needs is a series of procedural reforms that focus in on this specific problem.

For the second time in as many weeks, a US serviceman assigned to prevent military sex assaults has been accused of sexual misconduct.

The Army sergeant at Fort Hood, Texas, is under investigation for alleged abusive sexual contact, maltreatment of subordinates, assault and pandering.

Last week, an Air Force officer with similar responsibilities was arrested for allegedly groping a woman.

The latest incident has prompted fresh uproar from lawmakers.

No charges have been filed against the sergeant, who was an equal opportunity adviser and co-ordinator of a programme to prevent sexual harassment and assault at the Army's 3rd Corps headquarters in Fort Hood.

But he is under investigation by the Army Criminal Investigation Command.
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This is sickening”

Senator Patty Murray

In a statement, the Army said it would not name the soldier, in order to protect the integrity of the investigation.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is directing all services to retrain and rescreen personnel involved in sexual assault prevention and response programmes, a defence department spokesman said on Tuesday.

The spokesman, George Little, said Mr Hagel was angry and disappointed at "these troubling allegations and the breakdown in discipline and standards they imply".

"This is sickening," Washington state Senator Patty Murray said.

"It's an astonishing reminder that the Pentagon has both a major problem on its hands and a tremendous amount of work to do to assure victims - who already only report a small fraction of sexual assaults - that they are changing the culture around these heinous crimes," Sen Murray said