Rep. Speier: Air Force awarded alleged rapist instead of punishing him

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) on Wednesday delivered her sixteenth speech on the House floor condemning the "epidemic" of sexual harassment and rape in the U.S. military.

To call attention to the problem, she has been telling the stories of women who were sexually harassed and assaulted while serving in U.S military.

"Airman First Class Jessica Nicole Hinves was raped in 2009 by a co-worker who broke into her room through the bathroom at approximately 3:00 am," Speier said.

"The rapist was scheduled to stand trial in this court martial," she explained. "But the airman who raped her was never prosecuted. His new commander intervened and halted the court martial."

"So what happened next? Well, the rapist was given the award for Airman of the Quarter and Airman Hinves, who was then transferred to another base, now suffers from severe panic attacks and anxiety."

Speier has introduced H.R. 3435, the STOP Act, which would create a new autonomous group within the military to handle the prosecution, reporting, investigation and all other aspects of a sexual assault case. Currently, those powers are exercised solely at the discretion of the unit commander.

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