Pendleton Reports 16 Rapes in ’92
Sixteen rapes have been reported at Camp Pendleton in the first six months of 1992, four more than in all of 1991, officials said.
The 12 rapes reported last year at the second-largest Marine base in the United States were the most in five years.
“We still don’t know why the numbers are up,” Gunnery Sgt. John Farrell, a base spokesman, said. “We’ve found that about half the cases are false or unsubstantiated.”
Farrell said there is no evidence that any suspect committed more than one rape.
“We have no serial rapist on Camp Pendleton,” he said.
The rape reports have come as the number of Marines at Camp Pendleton has declined from 37,000 to 35,000 over the past year.
A review of military documents found that 185 women reported they were raped on 19 major Marine bases from 1989 to 1991. During the same period, 64 people were convicted of rape on Marine bases.
An earlier review of military documents found that reported rapes at the Marine Corps’ 19 major bases worldwide had risen to 72 in 1991 from 54 in 1987.
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