A female lance corporal alleges she was sexually assaulted when she was 19-years-old stationed at Marine base in Japan.
According to the Associated Press, Stacey Thompson said "her sergeant laced her drinks with drugs, raped her in his barracks and then dumped her onto a street outside a nightclub at 4 a.m."
Thompson was not afraid to tell her superiors about the incident. She reported the crime, only to find out her alleged assailant was allowed to leave the Marine Corps.
She was then at the center of a separate investigation for drug use from that night of the alleged assault. Thompson was then kicked out with an other-than-honorable discharge. She lost her military benefits.
Fourteen years later, she decided to speak out again in an interview with the Associated Press.
Recently, the Pentagon, from amounting pressure, is trying to resolve its "growing sexual assault epidemic." Thompson is reportedly among many service members who have lived in silence.
"To see that what happened to me 14 years ago is still continuing to happen now, for me that was a big reason why I felt the need to come forward," she told the Associated Press. "I can finally say I have the strength."
Marine Corps and Navy officials declined to comment about Thompson's case to the Associated Press.The Marine Corps has said it takes sexual assault allegations seriously and continues to improve in responding to and preventing rapes within the ranks.
According to the AP, "retaliation is part of a military-wide pattern that has prevented countless cases from being reported and investigated, exacerbating the epidemic, according to victims' advocates. A Pentagon report released earlier this month found 62 percent of sexual assault victims in the military who reported being attacked say they faced some kind of retaliation afterward."
Brian Purchia, spokesman for Protect Our Defenders, told the Associated Press that the Pentagon's sexual assault statistic are "not getting better."
"Unfortunately commanders are conflicted: When a sexual assault occurs on their watch, it reflects poorly on them and that's why it's shoved under the rug. The perpetrators frequently out rank the victims, which is also why there is this bias," told Purchia to the Associated Press. "They're going to trust people they've known -- not an 18 or 19-year-old just new to the service."
Thompson told the AP that "military culture will not change until the system changes."
Reportedly, she will speak Friday at a news conference in Los Angeles, Calif. with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to "show her support for her bipartisan bill that would put the cases in the hands of military trained prosecutors."
