Pentagon still struggles with military kid sex assault cases

The Defense Department is rolling out big changes to how it responds when the children of service members sexually assault each other — and the rollout has been uneven.

Tens of thousands of military kids live and go to school on U.S. bases worldwide. An Associated Press investigation last year showed broad failures to help sex assault victims or to hold accountable the kids they accuse.

Congress responded by requiring reforms to nearly every aspect of how juvenile sex assault cases are handled.

A Pentagon-wide policy is not yet ready. So the Army published its own, which mandates both a criminal investigation and victim assistance.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon-run school system published guidelines that try to extend to its 70,000 students protections public school students get under federal law.

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Klug reported from Seoul, South Korea; Pritchard reported from Los Angeles. Reese Dunklin in Dallas contributed.

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Contact Pritchard at https://twitter.com/lalanewsman .