A group of senators is demanding answers from the Pentagon on how its branches handle allegations of child abuse and mistreatment in the wake of Military.com's reporting that found major gaps in policy and oversight existed in at least three cases of abuse in three different states.
In a letter exclusively provided to Military.com, Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Laphonza Butler, D-Calif.; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, have asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to better outline what policies the Pentagon has in place to protect kids, notify parents and what relationship the military has with state agencies.
The letter, sent Thursday, is the latest in a series of steps that Congress and the Pentagon have taken to investigate the issues that were revealed by instances of abuse by day-care staff at Navy facilities at Ford Island Child Development Center near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California, as well as by another child at an Army center serving the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.
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Hours after Military.com published its reporting, the Pentagon's top spokesman, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said that the Defense Department was requesting an inspector general investigation into the matter. Then on Tuesday, lawmakers, including Murray, grilled the…
