A US Navy commander has been dismissed from his post at a San Diego Beachmaster unit due to sending \u00c5\u201cinappropriate\u201d emails and text messages to female members of his command, officials say.\n<\/p>\n
According to a statement released by Naval Surface Force Pacific (SURFPAC) spokesman Lieutenant Rick Chernitze on Thursday, Commander Allen Maestas was removed from Naval Beach Group 1.\n<\/p>\n
The statement added that the messages sent by Commander Maestas were \u00c5\u201cinappropriate and unprofessional and did not respect the senior-subordinate relationship.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A large number of high-ranking US military commanders were recently convicted and relieved of duties for multiple sexual offenses and corruption over the years.<\/p>\n
On May 14, the Pentagon announced that a sergeant first class who is responsible for handling sexual-assault cases at Fort Hood, Texas has been placed under a criminal investigation over allegations of abusive sexual contact and other related crimes including forcing a subordinate into prostitution.\n<\/p>\n
On May 6, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Krusinski, director of the sexual assault prevention program for the US Air Force, was himself detained for sexually assaulting a woman not far from the military headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.\n<\/p>\n
The Pentagon recently reported a 35-percent increase in the number of sexual assault cases in the military – 26,000 American military service members were sexually assaulted in 2012, compared to 19,000 such cases two years before.\n<\/p>\n
About one out of five military women said they had been victims of unwanted sexual assault by another service member since joining the military, according to a survey conducted in 2011.\n<\/p>\n
The overall rate of sexual assault in the US military may be higher, as many victims fail to report out of fear of vengeance or lack of justice under the military\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s system of prosecution, the survey added.\n<\/p>\n
MAM\/KA<\/p>\n