U.S. military officials revealed that the problem of child-on-child sexual abuse is larger than was previously acknowledged, but they are seeking to repel the efforts of the Congress to address it.

Members of the Congress are demanding answers and are pushing the U.S. military. An investigation revealed that sexual violence reports among children are not getting enough attention, which often leaves both offenders and victims without any help.

Too Many Unprosecuted Cases

There have been over 600 sexual assault cases among kids over a 10-year period. The criminal investigators of the army are adding 86 more investigations at the moment.

A congressman from Texas is already trying to redirect the Pentagon to provide the state authorities with cases.

Responses to Accusations

The officials of the Pentagon school systems already responded that they are trying to come up with new rules about the sexual violence. The Department of Defense is promising more appropriate actions to help juveniles that are involved in sexual assaults.

A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and an Iowa Republican, Joni Ernst, stated that she thinks that they can deal with the corrections faster than the Congress.

More Worries

The Army released more cases and was trying to report no incidents in certain locations, but in fact, those installations had also conducted investigations. Those bases were located in Louisiana, Hawaii, Alabama, Alaska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Germany, and South Korea.

Senator Clair McCaskill, also a member of the SASC and a former prosecutor, is also concerned with the lack of tracking. She also stated that there is a possibility that there was not good coordination with civilian authorities and the military.

Questions for Concern

The Army is still not revealing the number of pending child-on-child sexual violence investigations, leaving the public with a number of questions:

• Why are there so many incidents of children acting out in sexually aggressive ways on military bases?
• What is being done to counsel both the victims and the offenders?
• Why does the military not want to reveal the problem or accept help from civil authorities?
• Should the military be given the option to handle the incidents without civilian oversight?