‘Hundreds’ of child sailors raped, abused

The Australian ^ | 5th May 2014 | Brendan Nicholson

[naturalman1975]

ALLEGATIONS that 220 child sailors at the navy’s West Australian training base were raped or brutalised, and that more than 70 young officer cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra suffered sexual or other abuse, are so serious they will be tabled in federal ­parliament.

So far, almost 500 former and serving Defence Force members have received reparation payments of up to $50,000 for damage caused by the abuse they suffered — a cost to Defence of more than $21 million.

As well, 45 cases have been ­referred to state and territory police forces for possible prosecution. They feature allegations of rape and other assaults on females and males; serious threats; stalking and intimidation with intent to cause fear; and burglary with intent to carry out an ­assault.

[yldstrk]

You start off right, yes, I am sure there could be some honorable sailors. But, as I survey those around me, I would have to say, there are more bad than good individuals in the general population, so to extrapolate..........

sigh

[X Fretensis]

Starting young at sea was not uncommon in most navies.
Lord Nelson was 13 when he went to sea for the first time,
Lord Collingwood was 12. John Paul Jones was 13 on his first voyage. Admiral David Farragut became a midshipmen at the tender age of 9. Admiral David Porter was 16 as was Admiral Yamamoto.

[Bob]

You surveyed who around you?? The vast majority of sailors that I served with were straight and wouldn’t have had the slightest inclination toward molestation of youngsters. “More bad than good” is either a gross exaggeration or an outright lie.

[Chode]

i guess they're too young for rum but not sodomy and the lash...

[Albion Wilde]

If only they let them marry...

Yeah, if they let gays marry, this sort of thing wouldn't happen... /sarc

[NonValueAdded]

United States Naval Sea Cadets Corps, as fine an organization as you ever would want to see.

[PGR88]

But these men weren’t gay, no definitely don’t say that.

Its not about man on boy sex, no, its umm about, errr something else.

[yldstrk]

You wanna fight?

I meant this: As I look around me and see all the greed, lies, cheating, sexual depravity, I conclude there are more bad than good people of all stripes. If you and your unit were saints, you are the lucky one. I can count on one hand the number of people I would trust alone with a child.

[GeronL]

It’s not just the monsters who did this, but the monsters who ignored it and allowed it to continue as well

[yldstrk]

very true

[Verginius Rufus]

Robert Pitcairn was a 15-year-old midshipman when he spotted the island in the South Pacific which is named for him. He died in 1770. His father, Major John Pitcairn, commanded the British troops in the battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, and was killed in the battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775.

[Neidermeyer]

[Neidermeyer]

Excellent, “Das Boot” is also first rate.
***********************
You cannot watch it dubbed ,, in German with subtitles only or it loses all it’s strength.

[Bob]

I’m not claiming that my shipmates and I were saints. We definitely weren’t. There’s a huge gap, though, between sainthood and child molestation.

If you know so few people that you’d be willing to trust around children, that says a lot about the people around you. I’d suggest finding a better group of people to be around.

[yldstrk]

I am looking believe me

where do you live?

I live in Kansas and everyone is pretty selfish

I can count the conservatives I know also on one hand

[Bob]

I’m not understanding the connection that you’re making between people being selfish and their being potential child molesters. To me, that’s quite a stretch.

[yldstrk]

here, let me explain

Anyone who could prioritize themselves and their own interest in self satisfaction at the expense of an innocent child, above the destruction of a child’s sense of trust and destroying a child’s life is COMPLETELY SELFISH AND OF A REPROBATE MIND

Now do you see what I am saying?

[yldstrk]

Centurion, you have expressed it quite well

[xone]

Wogs become Shellbacks. Great tradition.

[Bob]

I agree - child molesters are incredibly and destructively selfish. They’re selfish because they’re child molesters. They’ve taken their selfishness to a very sick extreme.

From all child molesters being selfish, though, it doesn’t necessarily follow that all selfish people are likely to molest children. That’s the leap you’re making that I disagree with.