Current Events > Soldier commits suicide after being sexually assaulted by airman she trusted.

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A lesbian soldier has tragically taken her own life following an alleged sexual assault by a military colleague days after she came out on Facebook.

Private first class Kaylie Harris was just 21 years old when she died by suicide on 2 May at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. Shed been a soldier less than a year.

In the days that followed her death, Kaylies mother, Carey Harris, learned her daughter had filed a sexual assault complaint against a fellow service member, 10 days after she came out a lesbian on Facebook.

I asked them, Did this man know that she was a lesbian?' Carey Harris told USA Today. And they said, Oh, absolutely everybody knew.'

Kaylie came out as a lesbian during her senior year in high school but disclosed her sexuality on social media for the first time on 21 January.

How did no one figure out I was gay!? Im looking at my childhood pictures and I scream baby gay. How guys?! she posted with laughing emojis.

The following week on 30 January, Kaylie was allegedly attacked by an Air Force airman she had considered a friend, according to the familys lawyer Ben Beliles.

As the military investigated the assault Kaylies mental health rapidly deteriorated and she began distancing herself from her loved ones.

She expressed thoughts of suicide and self-harm to her superiors, who gave her counselling, placed her under a do-not-arm order and issued a protective order to keep her alleged attacker away from her. But it wasnt enough.

A shocking military misstep saw Kaylie taken off the do-not-arm list and allowed her to come into contact with her alleged attacker once more at a training session, USA Today reports. Both of them remained on the base in spite of the order designed to keep them apart.

We want to get to the bottom of how the military allowed that to happen, Beliles said.
The encounter left Kaylie reeling and within a few days, shed bought a handgun and written a suicide note.

In it she directly named her alleged attacker, saying he showed me how dark people are, how people could hurt others for pleasure.

There are so many points of failure, said Jennifer Dane of the Modern Military Association, an advocacy group for LGBT+ troops and veterans. This is another example of leadership failure. Its awful.

Kaylie had previously discussed concerns about sexual assault in the military and the militarys treatment of LGBT+ troops, her family said.

According to Don Christensen of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for victims of sexual assault in the military, Kaylies case is a part of a larger culture.

The military talks a lot about suicide prevention and supporting survivors and LGBT troops, but their action rarely equals the words they use, said Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for sexual assault victims in the military.

There still is a culture of disbelief when survivors come forward and an attitude that even if the survivors allegation is true, they should just walk it off.

Too many of these cases end in tragedy like this one, in part because of the militarys failure to keep offenders away from their victims.

While the accuseds motivations arent known, the Harris family believes she was assaulted because she was a lesbian, and that she would still be alive today if the military had taken the report more seriously.

The militarys code of justice currently has no hate crime laws, but Kaylies mother is now fighting for change to protect LGBT+ troops.

She insists the alleged attacker should be charged with a hate crime, arguing that it was the assault that triggered Kaylies suicide. While a hate crime conviction is unlikely as Kaylie cannot serve as a witness, the family is determined to seek justice.

She took an oath to die for our country, Carey Harris said. Not to be taken out by a fellow soldier.

In a statement Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek confirmed that the alleged assault is still under investigation.

She noted that commanders immediately placed the man accused of assaulting Harris in another duty location pending completion of the investigation and issued a military protective order to ensure there was no contact between PFC Harris and the airman, though both remained on the base near downtown Anchorage.

The airman declined to comment, Stefanek said, and decisions remain pending regarding any possible charges.

Sexual assault and harassment of any kind are inconsistent with the department of the Air Forces core values, Stefanek said in a statement.

The US Army added in a statement that Harris death shows the need to prevent and respond to sexual assault.

No member of the Army team should be subjected to sexual harassment, sexual assault, or associated retaliation, a spokesperson said.



Jesus christ the military fucked up.

If someone has formally accused a co-worker of violent sexual assault, not putting them together is beyond obvious.... It's like they were actively trying to demean her.

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Yeah, this is sad and screwed up. And suicide always leaves the surrounding loved ones wondering what they could have done to help the victim. RIP.

and the government will do nothing about it because for some reason they just want to ignore this shit and not allow it in courts...fuckin hell.

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That is just horrible.

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I support the death penalty

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That's just tragic RIP
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Court martial. Nao

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My neighbor back in the early 90s went off to the navy and was repeatedly being assaulted by her commanding officers. She hung herself on that ship.

RIP Shelly and RIP this young lady

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Tragic

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EnglishBullDoug posted...

Yeah, this is sad and screwed up. RIP.

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CalypsoDoom posted...

"women are lazy and weak they should be forced to be included in the draft"
"can we protect them from sexual assault?"
"NO"

Strawman: the Post
coming to a www.gamefaqs.gamespot.com topic near you, summer 2021

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Its always sad when this kind of shit happens.

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CalypsoDoom posted...

"women are lazy and weak they should be forced to be included in the draft"
"can we protect them from sexual assault?"
"NO"

Wow what an absolutely disgusting post.

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reminder: last time we drafted soldiers, not a single person on this board was alive (it's been awhile)

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Ha! I'm 35+ you can't draft me anymore!

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Trillion of dollars spent on our defense budget every year. Hardly any of that is spent to personally support our troops. Fuck the military. Put some of that money elsewhere.

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CalypsoDoom posted...

People always bring up wanting more women in the military

if you say so?

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This is really tragic... I don't know why some people act like your friend then betray you like that. Cruel people out there.

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The Trent posted...

I support the death penalty

Sadly, the death penalty wouldn't apply here since he didn't directly take her life.

I hope he gets the maximum penalty for rape and any other charges they throw at him though. Truly awful human being.

CalypsoDoom posted...

"if I have never seen it it doesn't happen"

sorry, i guess people are always bringing up that more women should be soldiers

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FortuneCookie posted...

Sadly, the death penalty wouldn't apply here since he didn't directly take her life.

I hope he gets the maximum penalty for rape and any other charges they throw at him though. Truly awful human being.

i guess i meant "i support expansion of the death penalty" as well as "application of the death penalty for this"

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How do you even fuck this up tho

like how is military bureaucracy run

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I bet nothing will happen to dat rapist
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CalypsoDoom posted...

"women are lazy and weak they should be forced to be included in the draft"

women were never required to register for the draft


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Whoever took her off the Do Not Arm list needs to be punished

Zikten posted...

Whoever took her off the Do Not Arm list needs to be punished

What?

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spikethedevil posted...

What?

She was put on a list that forbid her from having a gun. But then they took her off it and she got a handgun and killed herself

Ah ok my bad.

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CalypsoDoom posted...

"women are lazy and weak they should be forced to be included in the draft"

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that

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TheVipaGTS posted...

and the government will do nothing about it because for some reason they just want to ignore this shit and not allow it in courts...fuckin hell.

Not entirely true. Pieces of shit like Dan Crenshaw may try to cover it up!
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Geld him and send him to the wall.

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ShyOx posted...

Geld him and send him to the wall.

I want a full investigation and trial first. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.

But I still I am mad that the army fucked up so badly. How the fuck do you give her a gun and put them together after that accusation? It's insane

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The US military is basically just a gigantic institutionalized rape machine. Our own DOD admits that half of soldiers across all branches report being raped and the average member who reports rape reports it more than 2 times. It also admits that 98% of soldiers accused of rape receive no punishment and of the 2% who do the most common punishment is KP duty. Nobody with any power to do anything about it fucking cares, though. It's disgusting and horrible and done in the names of every American, hooray!

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This is a worrying trend I see now:

• High Profile rape case
• Victim is named
• Offender is anonymous

WTF is that?

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Justice for Vanessa Guillen


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