Three Naval Academy midshipmen will face charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a female midshipman last year, a U.S. military official told NBC News Monday.

The female midshipman told investigators that she was sexually assaulted by the three men — all Academy football players at the time — at an off-campus party in April 2012. 

The Naval Academy Superintendent, Vice Admiral Michael Miller, is the convening authority for the case. A spokesperson for the Naval Academy confirmed that Miller "has decided to send this case to Article 32 proceedings," the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing. 

It is unclear if all three men will face charges, which could come as soon as Tuesday.

"The initial [Naval Criminal Investigative Service] investigation has been completed and reviewed," Naval Academy spokesman Cmdr. John Schofield said, but he could not comment on what the specific charges are yet.

The woman initially reported the incident in 2012 and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service immediately launched an investigation, sources told NBC News. But the woman essentially withdrew her complaint when she stopped cooperating with investigators, and the investigation was halted. 

But in February of 2013 she renewed her complaint and the investigation continued.

Sources said the woman knew the men and considered them friends, but during a night of heavy drinking the three allegedly had non-consensual sex with her at different times.

The woman's lawyer, Susan Burke, has told NBC News that her client was "ostracized" for the accusations, and that the incident was "widely known at the Naval Academy." 

Burke has been critical of the Academy in how they have handled the investigation. She said her client was disciplined for drinking while her alleged attackers went unpunished for more than one year. 

One of the accused, however, had his graduation put on hold this year pending while the investigation was ongoing. 

The other two are juniors at the Annapolis, Md., school.

A major general in the United States Army has been suspended from his duties as commander of forces in Japan over accusations he failed to “report or properly investigate an allegation of sexual assault,” the Department of Defense said Friday.

The decision about Maj. Gen. Michael T. Harrison was taken by Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, according to a statement.

“Maj. Gen. Harrison was suspended following actions taken today by due to allegations that Harrison failed in his duties as a commander to report or properly investigate an allegation of sexual assault,” the statement said.

Harrison was also suspended from his duties as commanding general of I Corps (Forward).

The statement said that Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer, the former deputy commanding general of United States Army Europe, would serve as the interim commander “until the investigation is complete and the issue resolved.”

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A lawyer for a female midshipman who accused three U.S. Naval Academy football players of raping her last year said her client was actually disciplined for drinking while her alleged attackers went unpunished.

"The message that was being sent loud and clear was that she was getting in trouble for coming forward, and yet nothing was happening to the men who were involved in the wrongdoing," said Susan Burke, an attorney for the woman.

One of the accused, however, had his graduation put on hold last week pending the investigation's findings. The other two are juniors at the Annapolis, Md., school.

A spokesman for the Naval Academy said the school's leadership is monitoring the investigation and "evaluating the appropriate options for adjudication."

"It is completely inappropriate to make any other public comment on this investigation or any ongoing investigation as we risk compromising the military justice process,” an Academy spokesman said in a statement.

Sources told NBC News last month that the woman initially reported the incident in 2012 and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service immediately launched an investigation.

It is alleged that the three men, whom she knew and considered friends, had non-consensual sex with her at different points throughout the night, according to sources.

Four months later, the woman dropped the complaint and she stopped cooperating with investigators. But in February of 2013 she renewed her complaint and the investigation continued.

Burke told NBC that her client was "ostracized" for the accusations and that the incident was "widely known at the Naval Academy."  

In 2007 the Academy expelled Navy quarterback Lamar Owens Jr. in a sexual assault case. Owens was ultimately acquitted of sexual assault, but found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer.

On Tuesday the nation's top military commanders appeared before Congress for a hearing on the rising number of sexual assaults in the military and how the cases are handled. 

In fiscal year 2012, the number of reported assaults increased 6 percent to 3,374 — up from 3,192 from fiscal year 2011 – and the number of people who made an anonymous claim that they were sexually assaulted rose from 19,000 to 26,000, according to an annual Pentagon report released earlier this month.

NBC News’ Courtney Kube contributed to this report

Patrick Smith / Getty Images file

The Navy-Marines Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md, is pictured in 2012.

Three U.S. Naval Academy football players are under investigation for alleged sexual assault last year against a female midshipman, sources have confirmed to NBC News. 

It's alleged that the victim and the three students had been drinking when she reportedly had sex with one of them, her boyfriend, in the back seat of a car, sources said. The other two then allegedly had sex with the woman.

One was a senior set to graduate last week; his graduation was put on hold pending the investigation. The other two are juniors at the Annapolis, Md., school.

The sources said the victim initially reported the incident in February 2012 and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service immediately launched an investigation. Four months later, the woman essentially withdrew her complaint when she stopped cooperating with investigators, and the investigation was halted.  

This past February, the woman renewed her complaint and the investigation was restarted. 

No charges have been filed.  The investigation is ongoing.

In 2007, the Academy expelled Navy quarterback Lamar Owens, Jr. in a sexual assault case. Although he was acquitted of any sexual assault, he was found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer.

The problem of sexual assault in the military has been getting increasing attention, and data released recently shows that reported assaults are on the rise.

In fiscal year 2012, the number of reported assaults increased 6 percent to 3,374 — up from 3,192 from fiscal year 2011 – and the number of people who made an anonymous claim that they were sexually assaulted rose from 19,000 to 26,000, according to an annual Pentagon report released earlier this month.

The military's sexual assault-prevention unit has been in the news this month because of several high-profile cases involving abuse prevention officers.

On May 6, the Air Force officer in charge of that service's sexual assault program, Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, was arrested in an Arlington, Va., parking lot for allegedly groping a woman.  He was charged with sexual battery and removed from his position pending an investigation.

On May 14, the Pentagon said an Army sergeant first class, assigned to III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, was under investigation for allegedly forcing at least one subordinate into prostitution, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates. He has been suspended from his duties pending an investigation.

And on May 16, the head of the Army's equal opportunity and sexual assault-prevention office at Fort Campbell, Ky., was relieved of his duties over a dispute with his estranged wife. He was arrested by civilian authorities for violating a protective order sought by his wife, according to the Pentagon, and released on a $15,000 bond.

Last Friday, in a speech to the class of 2013 at the U.S. Naval Academy, Obama urged the 1,047 graduates to "live with integrity" and help restore trust in the military.

“Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime, they threaten the trust and discipline that make our military strong,” he said.

NBC News' Courtney Kube, Tom Curry, and Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this report.

The head of the Army’s equal opportunity and sexual assault-prevention office at Fort Campbell, Ky., has been relieved of his duties, the Pentagon said.

He is the third sex-abuse prevention officer to be dismissed in the past to 10 days.

However, the Fort Campbell Army officer, whose name was not released, was dismissed over a domestic dispute with his wife, not a sexual-assault case, the Pentagon said.

The Army lieutenant colonel was arrested by civilian authorities for violating a protective order that was sought by his estranged wife, according to the Pentagon. The couple are in the process of getting a divorce. The officer was released today on a $15,000 bond.

He holds a protective order against his wife, as well.

Two other cases involving sex-assault prevention officers do involve sex-abuse-related charges.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon said an Army sergeant first class, assigned to III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, is under investigation for allegedly forcing at least one subordinate into prostitution, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates. He has been suspended from his duties pending an investigation.

On May 6, the Air Force officer in charge of that service's sexual-assault program, Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, was arrested in an Arlington, Va. parking lot for allegedly groping a woman.

Krusinksi was charged with sexual battery and removed from his position pending an investigation.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a member of the Armed Services Committee, is spearheading a bill to prevent military commanders from handling sexual assault cases that involve subordinates.

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'Every American should be outraged': Military sees sharp increase in sex-assault cases

Amid the legislation and indignation sparked by the military's sexual abuse crisis, male rape survivors are stepping forward to remind officials that men are targeted more often than women inside a tough-guy culture that, they say, routinely deems male victims as “liars and trouble makers.”

The Pentagon estimates that last year 13,900 of the 1.2 million men on active duty endured sexual assault while 12,100 of the 203,000 women in uniform experienced the same crime — or 38 men per day versus 33 women per day. Yet the Defense Department also acknowledges “male survivors report at much lower rates than female survivors.”

“As a culture, we’ve somewhat moved past the idea that a female wanted this trauma to occur, but we haven’t moved past that for male survivors,” said Brian Lewis, a rape survivor who served in the Navy. “In a lot of areas of the military, men are still viewed as having wanted it or of being homosexual. That’s not correct at all. It’s a crime of power and control.

“But also, you’re instantly viewed as a liar and a troublemaker (when a man reports a sex crime), and there’s the notion that you have abandoned your shipmates, that you took a crap all over your shipmates, that you misconstrued their horseplay,” he added.

Lewis, who was raped by a male superior officer aboard a Navy ship in 2000, spoke Thursday at a press conference introducing a bill that seeks to strip serious sex assaults from the military’s chain of command. At that event, he said: “Too often male survivors are ignored and marginalized.”

“The biggest reasons men don’t come forward (with sex assault reports) are the fear of retaliation (from fellow troops), the fear of being viewed in a weaker light, and the fact there are very few, if any, services for male survivors,” Lewis told NBC News.

Men in the spotlight
All sexual assault response coordinators within the military are instructed to provide “gender-responsive, culturally competent and recovery-oriented” resources, said Cynthia O. Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman. 

“Based on that guidance, each of the services customizes its training and implementation specific to their service,” Smith said. DOD offers a 24/7 “safe helpline” providing anonymous victim support, and its staffers “have been trained to assist male victims.”

Still, the Defense Department acknowledges it must do more to help male victims.

“A focus of our prevention efforts over the next several months is specifically geared towards male survivors and will include (learning) why male survivors report at much lower rates than female survivors, and determining the unique support and assistance male survivors need,” Smith said.

The Pentagon “has reached out to organizations supporting male survivors for assistance and information to help inform our way ahead,” she added.

“I applaud that stand on behalf of male survivors,” Lewis said. “However, I would be interested in hearing what organizations they are partnering with considering there are none especially geared for male survivors of military sexual trauma.”

'Critical' part of process
At Protect Our Defenders, a leading advocacy group for male and female service members who've survived sexual assaults, president Nancy Parrish said she would welcome the chance to offer guidance to the Pentagon as it develops better programs to support male sex assault victims.

“As of yet, we have not been asked to participate in such an endeavor,” Parrish said. “For the success of the military efforts to end the ongoing epidemic of male and female military sexual assaults, it is critical that survivors are part of the process."

An annual DOD report on sexual abuse, released May 7, described separate attacks on two male soldiers who were shoved down by fellow troops then sodomized with a plastic bottle or broom handle.

Next month, a documentary called “Justice Denied” — which explores sexual assaults against men in the military — premiers at the Albuquerque Film and Media Experience.

Assaults on men have been “carefully hidden from the public and covered up,” not only by the victims themselves but also by superiors within the chain of command, contends the film’s producer and co-director Geri Lynn Weinstein-Matthews. “It’s time for men to have their voices heard. It’s time for them to stand up against these vicious attacks and against the deception of some of their commanding officers.” 

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• Air Force's sex-abuse prevention honcho charged with sexual battery

A New York senator introduced a bill Thursday that aims to remove sex crimes from the military’s chain of command — a bid to transform an insulated culture that tends to dampen sex-assault reporting, leaving many victims feeling helpless or hopeless.

Under the Pentagon’s current justice system, less than 1 percent of accused sexual perpetrators in the military were convicted last year while during 2012 just 9.8 percent of sex-assault victims reported the incidents, according to a Department of Defense report. Many victims feel powerless because their superiors can control everything from whether a case proceeds to whether a guilty verdict is eventually overturned.

The new proposal by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., rides a rising tide of public anger over separate allegations that two service members tasked with curbing sexual misconduct within the armed forces had themselves committed sexual misconduct:

• A Fort Hood Army sergeant accused Tuesday of allegedly forcing at least one subordinate soldier into prostitution. There is suspicion that other senior non-commissioned officers were aware of these activities, but the extent of that remains unclear, a government official told NBC News;
• An Air Force officer arrested May 6 for alleged sexual battery. 

"When the officer in charge of preventing sexual assault in their ranks is himself arrested for sexual assault — clearly, the strategy we have in place is not working. Twice in just the last two weeks this has happened," Gillibrand said. 

Some service members have confided to Gillibrand, she said, that following sexual offenses committed against them, the military's current system forced them to seek permission from their perpetrators in order to take their cases to trial. 

"This is unacceptable — and is long overdue for change," Gillibrand said. 

Her push to revamp the military's machinery for the investigation and discipline of reported sexual assaults has bipartisan backing. Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Mich., said he will file a companion bill in the House. 

“Right now, too many sexual assaults in our military go unreported," Benishek said. "Many soldiers are uncomfortable reporting the details of these traumatic events. My daughter is a military veteran so I know exactly the kind of hard-working women we have in our armed forces. This situation is a travesty and we need to fix it now.

"We need to reform how the military handles sexual assault cases and make sure victims aren’t afraid to report a crime," he added. 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was informed Tuesday about the allegations against the Fort Hood sergeant, leaving the Pentagon chief "frustrated, angered, and disappointed over these troubling allegations as well as the breakdown in discipline and standards they imply," said Cynthia Smith, a DoD spokeswoman. 

Hagel immediately directed every branch to "re-train, re-credential, and re-screen" all sexual assault prevention and response personnel and military recruiters — and he has "made it clear he has not ruled out any options for improving the military's response to sexual assault," Smith said.  

Under Gilliland's proposed legislation, any reported offense committed by a service member that’s punishable by confinement of one year or more would be handled not by branch and unit commanders — like now — but instead be funneled to independent military prosecutors. Her proposal also seeks to ensure that military commanders may not set aside a guilty finding.  

She began writing her bill — working with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. — just two days after her impassioned critique of the military's desire to retain "convening authority" in sex crimes went viral last March. She since has emerged as one of the Senate's loudest proponents for wholesale Pentagon reform on the issue, calling for a format that's more parallel to the civilian legal system. 

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• Gillibrand leads Senate charge for protocol changes in military sexual assault cases
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• Army sergeant assigned to sex-abuse prevention being investigated for pimping, sexual assault
• Air Force's sex-abuse prevention honcho charged with sexual battery
• Obama: 'No tolerance' for military sexual assault
• 'Every American should be outraged:' Military sees sharp increase in sex assault cases

The U.S. military seems increasingly incapable of policing itself or ridding its ranks of sexual predators, watchdogs charge, but the latest litany of accusations — leveled Tuesday at Fort Hood — has thrust the Pentagon to the brink of wholesale reform long sought by victims of sexual assault. 

With the second member of the military's campaign to stem sexual misconduct falling under investigation — for alleged sexual misconduct — critics were quick to lambast Pentagon brass for "gross negligence" and for maintaining an internal system of investigation and discipline that appears to be in desperate need of being ripped down and rebuilt with fresh independence and transparency. 

"It is abundantly clear that the military cannot adequately handle its sexual violence crisis from within," said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of Service Women's Action Network and former Marine captain.

"If military culture is to transform in any meaningful way, we need to break down the doors of silence and make sure our troops who are harmed have access to the same legal remedies as all civilians whom they protect and defend," she added. "We can start by ensuring that military crimes are no longer handled by commanding officers, but rather by impartial attorneys and judges."

Nancy Parrish, president of the victims advocacy group Protect Our Defenders, agreed that "the Pentagon is responsible for failing to effectively govern its personnel," following news that a Fort Hood Army sergeant first class allegedly forced at least one subordinate soldier into prostitution and sexually assaulted two others. 

"The problems are so long standing and pervasive that, at a minimum, it constitutes gross negligence on the part of the leadership," Parrish said. 

Late Tuesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed all branches to "re-train, re-credential, and re-screen all sexual assault prevention and response personnel and military recruiters," according to the Pentagon. 

'Open to any and all options'
The Fort Hood scandal, coming just nine days after the sexual battery arrest of an Air Force officer tasked with preventing rape, cranked the volumed on long-standing cries "to get to work reforming the military justice system that clearly isn’t working," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. "I believe strongly that to create the kind of real reform that will make a difference we must remove the chain of command from the decision making process for these types of serious offenses.”

Ironically, hours before the Fort Hood allegations surfaced, Gillibrand was prepping a final draft of her bill — set to be introduced Thursday — that seeks to accomplish precisely that goal: transferring sex crimes from the watch and authority of military brass and instead funneling such cases to independent military prosecutors, said a spokesman for Gillibrand. 

Her proposal was further hastened by the Pentagon's May 7 revelation that 26,000 troops last year claimed anonymously to be sex-assault victims (up from 19,000 in FY11), and a May 9 White House meeting with lawmakers pitching various ideas to stem the military’s rape crisis.

“Sexual violence in the military is not new. And it has been allowed to go on in the shadows for far too long," Gillibrand said Tuesday. "Congress would be derelict in its duty of oversight if we just shrugged our shoulders at these 26,000 sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, and did nothing. We simply have to do better by them."

The appetite for a dramatic military shift on the issue seems to have reached a tipping point, lawmakers and advocates agree, especially after the Department of Defense signaled Monday that Hagel is "open to any and all options." That marked a clear pivot from Hagel's position as recently as May 7 when he said decisions on sex cases must stay inside the command structure. 

"Make no mistake," Pentagon press secretary George Little wrote Sunday in a letter to the New York Times, "Mr. Hagel believes sexual assault is one of the urgent matters facing the Defense Department today and will work very closely with the White House and members of Congress to confront this urgent challenge." 

'Debilitating' crisis
Gillibrand began writing her bill — working with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. — just two days after her impassioned critique of the military's desire to retain "convening authority" in sex crimes went viral last March. She chose to include in her bill all military crimes punishable by one year or longer in the brig because she felt sending only rape cases to the Judge Advocate General's Corps would further stigmatize sex-assault victims and create "a two-class system," her spokesman said.  

Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Mich., plans to introduce a companion bill in the House, his office confirmed.

The first embers of true Capitol Hill fury were stoked in February when Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin reversed the aggravated sexual assault conviction of Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, a fighter pilot. A jury of five military officers found Wilkerson guilty of assaulting a civilian contractor as she slept at his home on the Aviano Air Base In Italy. Franklin also dismissed Wilkerson's sentence: one year in the brig and dismissal from the Air Force.

Gillibrand's bill seeks bar military commanders from setting aside guilty findings.

"Hopefully, we have reached the tipping point," Parrish said. "It is ultimately up to the military leadership. If they decide that this epidemic and all of the recent scandals is a problem that should be solved, reform can happen and happen relatively quickly.

"At least until now, the military has treated the issue of sexual assault and rape in the military as a public relations problem," she added. "There are some recent signs that some in the leadership realize that it is a real crisis: a crisis that, for the military, is debilitating."

Related:

• Air Force's sex-abuse prevention honcho charged with sexual battery
• Army sergeant assigned to sex-abuse prevention being investigated for pimping, sexual assault
• Obama: 'No tolerance' for military sexual assault
• 'Every American should be outraged:' Military sees sharp increase in sex assault cases

Just a week after an Air Force lieutenant colonel working in its sexual-assault prevention office was arrested and accused of sexual battery, a second U.S. service member assigned to a military sexual assault program is being investigated for various forms of sexual misconduct, officials revealed Tuesday.

A U.S. Army sergeant first class, assigned to III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, is now under investigation for pandering — a prostitution solicitation charge — abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates, the Pentagon said.

A Defense Department source told NBC News the publicly unidentified soldier allegedly forced at least one subordinate soldier into prostitution and sexually assaulted two others.

This soldier was assigned as an equal opportunity advisor and Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program coordinator with one of the III Corps' subordinate battalions when the allegations came to light.

He has been suspended from his duties pending an investigation.

Since the soldier has not been charged and the Army has not released his identity. Special agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command are conducting an investigation.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was informed about the allegations against the Fort Hood soldier on Tuesday, said George Little, Pentagon spokesman.

“I cannot convey strongly enough his frustration, anger, and disappointment over these troubling allegations and the breakdown in discipline and standards they imply,” Little said.

Hagel has directed Army Secretary McHugh to fully and rapidly investigate the case “to discover the extent of these allegations, and to ensure that all of those who might be involved are dealt with appropriate,” Little said in a statement.

In addition, Hagel ordered all branches of the military to re-train, re-credential, and re-screen all sexual assault prevention and response officers as well as military recruiters. 

“Sexual assault is a crime and will be treated as such,” Little said. “The safety, integrity, and well-being of every service member and the success of our mission hang in the balance.”

Calling the latest investigation "disturbing," U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said she will unveil legislation Thursday to reform the military justice system in the prosecution of sexual-assault crimes to remove "chain of command influence." Senior commanders now have the ability to overturn guilty verdicts in sexual assault cases.

"To say this report is disturbing would be a gross understatement," Gillibrand said. "For the second time in a week we are seeing someone who is supposed to be preventing sexual assault being investigated for committing that very act."

The latest report comes after a string of bad news regarding the military's effort to staunch sexual assaults in its ranks.

On Monday, May 6th, the Air Force officer in charge of its sexual-assault program, Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, was arrested in an Arlington, Va. parking lot for allegedly groping a woman.

Police said the 41-year-old officer grabbed a woman's breasts and buttocks just after midnight. She managed to fight off her assailant.  

Krusinksi was charged with sexual battery. The Air Force removed him from his position pending an investigation.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon released its annual report from the DoD's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, which find a spike in sexual assaults.

According to the report, 3,374 incidents of "unwanted sexual contact" occurred within all branches of the Armed Forces in the 2012 fiscal year. That is a 6 percent increase from the previous year, when there were 3,192 reports.

The results of an anonymous survey, however, showed that an alarming 26,000 respondents said they had been sexually assaulted in the past year, compared to 19,000 respondents in last year's survey. 

President Barack Obama said last week he has “no tolerance” for sexual assault in the military. He made the comments in the wake of a new Pentagon report showing the instances of such crimes have spiked since 2010.

The bottom line is: I have no tolerance for this,” Obama said. “‘I expect consequences,” Obama added. “So I don’t just want more speeches or awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this, they’ve got to be held accountable – prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period.”

Related:

Air Force's sex-abuse prevention honcho charged with sexual battery

Obama: 'No tolerance' for military sexual assault

'Every American should be outraged:' Military sees sharp increase in sex assault cases

The trial for the Air Force official who was charged with sexual battery over the weekend will start on July 18, an Arlington District Court judge announced Thursday.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, maintained a stoic facial expression throughout his brief arraignment. He did not speak, except briefly to acknowledge that he understood his charge of sexual battery.

Arlington County PD

Booking photo of Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski

Sheryl Shane, Krusinski's lawyer, pushed for a September trial date but the judge denied the request.

Krusinski was arrested Sunday and charged with sexual battery for allegedly grabbing a woman by the breasts and buttocks in a parking lot not far from the Pentagon. He was drunk, according to the police report.

The woman fought him off, scratching his face. 

Krusinski ran the U.S. Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. He had held this post since February.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine.

The case of a U.S. Air Force official who headed a sexual-assault prevention unit and was arrested for allegedly groping a woman will be handled in civilian court despite the military's request for jurisdiction, a prosecutor said on Tuesday. 

Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, was arrested on Sunday and charged with sexual battery for allegedly grabbing a woman by the breasts and buttocks in a parking lot not far from the Pentagon. The police report said the victim fought off a drunken male as he tried to touch her again. 

Arlington County PD

Booking photo of Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski

Theo Stamos, prosecutor for Arlington County, Virginia, said the military had requested jurisdiction of the case, but the county intended to keep it.

"Since this happened in a civilian setting, not military, it didn't make any sense to me that the military would prosecute this," she said in a phone interview. "We are perfectly capable of going forward."

Krusinski will be arraigned on Thursday, when he can enter a plea on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery, which carries a penalty of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

It could not be determined whether Krusinski has obtained a lawyer, and Krusinski could not be reached for comment.

The arrest came as the U.S. military is under increased pressure to deal with the issue of sexual assault. 

A new Pentagon report released on Tuesday said the reported cases of sexual assault rose to 3,374 in 2012 from 3,192 the previous year, but the Pentagon estimates that actual cases are considerably higher. Estimated cases of unwanted sexual contact in 2012 were 26,000, compared with 19,000 in 2011. 

Krusinski, as chief of the Air Force sexual assault prevention and response branch, headed an office of about five people that oversaw education programs and training and helped draft policy, Lieutenant Colonel Laurel Tingley, an Air Force spokeswoman, said.