The military is failing to comply with federal law in sexual assault cases, new watchdog report finds

Nearly a decade after Congress mandated the use of investigators and prosecutors who are specifically trained to handle sexual assault and domestic violence cases, a draft of a new Pentagon report obtained by CBS News reveals the military is failing to comply with federal law that requires it to give survivors support. In an analysis of almost 450 military special victims cases filed between 2018 to 2020, the Department of Defense's inspector general found that 64% did not have properly trained prosecutors assigned to them.

In many of the cases, "the assigned prosecutor was an inexperienced, junior prosecutor without specialized training in special victim cases," according to the report, which is expected to be released publicly this week after review by the branches of the military. That failure to assign specially trained prosecutors meant investigators and commanders "may not have received the best legal advice with respect to critical investigative steps and case adjudication decisions," the report adds.

The Air Force fared the worst: 94% of survivors were represented by prosecutors not trained to handle sexual assault and domestic violence cases. The Army and Navy both failed to provide prosecutors who were adequately trained in 59% of cases; the Marine Corps fell short of the requirement 30% of the time.