A 68-year old former Royal Navy Commander has been, jailed after he was, convicted of ten indecent assaults against eight young men.
It as being stated in a news article that the former Commander used his qualities, advantage and power to act as a sexual predator between 1985 and 1994, As the Captain of HMS Cleopatra he groped a junior member of his crew.
Although, his behaviour was reported it emerges that superiors closed rank to protect him and the reputation of the Navy, allowing him to continue his predatory behaviour. When he left the Navy, his predatorial attitude continued into civilian life, whereas a charity executive he assaulted six volunteers and was made to resign. However, the incident was, not reported to the police.
According to the media article, the Judge that ordered the perpetrator to pay prosecution cost and sign the sex offender register indefinitely commented that this man showed the outside world qualities of diplomacy, endeavour, charisma and charm, which allowed him to maintained and masked his dark secret for 30 years.
In my opinion, an individual like him is allowed to get away with bad behaviour because those who are, tasked with the protection of, in respect of the military, junior staff members close rank and protect the perpetrators rather than the victims.
This case brings into question how many of our service men and woman are encountering officers who use their rank to make subordinate their lives a misery. Does the protection of senior military personnel still a part of military life?
We need to as a society, if these walls still exist, break down these counterproductive attitudes that we build to protect so-called affluent people. Especially, in the armed service where a senior officer can terrorise junior staff knowing that their superiors will close rank to protect them at all cost.