A former staffer at West Point is facing a court marital amid charges he secretly videotaped female cadets.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael McClendon was charged May 14 with 13 "specifications" or allegations of "indecent conduct" in making videos between July 2009 and May 2012. Army criminal investigators are now contacting more than a dozen women who might have been videotaped, according to Army spokesman George Wright.
Wright said the investigation has been going on since May 2012, but charges were not made until last week because the Army was still trying to assemble computer evidence and identify the women involved.
According to the charge sheet, McClendon allegedly videotaped dozens of female cadets that he was responsible for training and mentoring--in some cases, while they were in the shower or latrine. He's been stationed at Fort Drum since March, and has been banned from any contact with cadets since charges were filed last week.
The charges were only publicly announced when several current cadets and West Point graduates got wind of it and asked the NYT to get more details. Nonetheless, the Army is promising full support to the women who were allegedly videotaped. Given the recent rise of sexual assaults in the military, one can only hope that the Pentagon makes an example of McClendon if the charges are true.