President Obama said Tuesday that someone who engages in for sexual assault in the military is “betraying the uniform,” responding to a Pentagon report estimating that there are 70 sexual assaults involving military personnel each day.
“I have no tolerance for this,” Obama said during a joint press conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye at the White House. “I have communicated this to the secretary of defense. We’re gonna communicate this again to folks up and down the chain in areas of authority. And I expect consequences.”
He continued: “If we find out somebody’s engaging in this stuff, they’ve got to be held accountable: Prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged, period.”
The report comes just after news that the Air Force officer who led the branch’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit was himself arrested for sexual battery in Virginia.
*This post has been updated.
