9/23/20: Official Request to Howard “Skip” Elliot for DOT Inspector General Investigation into Sexual Abuse Coverups at the United States Merchant Marine Academy
Skip.
*Also submitted via: https://www.oig.dot.gov/hotline
Name: John Ryan Melogy
Company: Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy
Address: www.maritimelegalaid.com
Phone: 469-431-1024
E-Mail: kpmelogy@gmail.com
Economic Stimulus Related: No
Hurricane Sandy Recovery Related: No
Description of the fraud, waste, and/or abuse:
RE: Sexual Abuse Coverups at the United States Merchant Marine Academy
Mr. Howard Elliot,
The Department of Shipboard Training at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) is in a state of turmoil, and a DOT OIG investigation of the very sad events that have led to this current state of crisis is desperately needed in order to restore confidence in the Academy’s Sea Year program, and to protect USMMA students from the dangers of sexual harassment and sexual assault aboard U.S. flag commerical and military auxillary vessels.
In recent weeks Captain Eugene Albert, the man who had administered the Academy’s “Sea Year” program for 15 years, was forced to resign from his position by Maritime Administrator Mark Buzby over allegations that for a decade and a half he had engaged in the systematic silencing of students who were victims of shipboard sexual harassment and sexual assault.
The allegations put forth against Captain Albert by myself and others include allegations that for many years Captain Albert had engaged in a pattern of “coverups” of instances of violent rapes and other sexual assaults of USMMA students who were assaulted while participating in the USMMA’s Sea Year program. It is my understanding that at least two other men who assisted Captain Albert in these coverups are also in the process of being fired by Mark Buzby.
There is one specific instance of a reported sexual assault that I would like to bring to your attention for investigation, because I think it is very likely that this sexual assault was “covered up” by the USMMA with help from the United States Coast Guard and the shipping company which employed the mariner/assailant:
The sexual assault in question is listed in the following 2017-2018 USMMA SASH Report that was published by your department:
At Table 6, Row 7, one of the reports of sexual assault is listed as follows:
"A midshipman was sexually assaulted by a crew member of a ship during sea year and reported it to the Academy. The report was Unrestricted – occurred at sea; referred to U.S. Coast Guard for investigation."
Based on my knowledge of how the USMMA and USCG have worked together for many years to cover up the sexual assaults of USMMA studentts, this report of sexual assault was likely sent to Captain Jason Neubaeur at the USCG, Chief of the USCG office of Investigations & Analysis.
The 2017-2018 SASH report states that after being referred to the USCG there was "No criminal prosecution" and that the assault, which was almost certainly a felony sex crime, was then "referred to shipping company for administrative handling."
I would like to bring to the attention of your office the fact that “criminal prosecution” is not the only option that the USCG has to punish mariners for rapes and other kinds of sexual misconduct directed at USMMA students during the Sea Year program.
The USCG also has the "Suspension & Revocation" (S&R) process that is used by the USCG hundreds of times every year to punish USCG-credentialed mariners for various kinds of misconduct.
The 2017-2018 SASH report does not mention whether or not the USCG sought to use the S&R process to punish the mariner. Based on disturbing information I have learned about the unwillingness of the USCG to use the S&R process to punish mariners for sex crimes, it is very likely that this sex crime was never actually investigated by the U.S.C.G., and that USMMA officials knew very well that it would never be investigated, and in fact did not want it investigated because they did not want to bring negative publicity upon the Academy or the shipping companies who partner with the Academy to run the Sea Year program.
I understand that this might be a bit difficult to believe, but it is also difficult to believe how the USMMA and the USCG could write in an official SASH report that a criminal, felony sexual assault was referred to the mariner/perpetrator’s commercial shipping company for "Administrative Handling," as if that company itself were responsible for enforcing our nation’s laws against shipboard rape and sexual assault.
This complete absence of even the appearance of an attempt at justice is disheartening, to say the least. And unfortunately it is business as usual at the USMMA Department of Shipboard Training.
I am calling for your office to investigate this specific instance of sexual assault at sea (as well as the broader issues I have raised in this message), and I am asking you to find out if an S&R investigation was initiated at the USCG, and if indeed any investigation was ever initiated at the USCG over this report of sexual assault sent to the USCG by the USMMA.
In recent months I have heard some very disturbing stories from current and former USMMA students about the way that they were silenced by Captain Eugene Albert and others at the USMMA when they attempted to report instances of sexual assault and harassment they had experienced on ships during the Academy’s Sea Year program. These stories and the data that I have uncovered have brought me to the conclusion that the vast, vast majority of sexual assaults that occur during Sea Year never make it onto the official reports released by the Academy.
I have also heard troubling stories about the relationship between Captain Eugene Albert, the man who has been in charge of the Academy's Sea Year program for the past 15 years, and the men in the USCG's "Safety" office where reports of sexual assault are forwarded. These stories paint a picture of two organizations (the USMMA and USCG) working together to make reports of sexual assault of USMMA midshipmen "disappear."
I fear another “disappearance” is exactly what may have happened in this case, and I fear that it has happened many other times.
What is most troubling is that the person who sexualy assaulted this USMMA student almost certainly went completely unpunished, is likely still employed by the same company, is likely still a member of his or her labor union, and it is horrifyingly likely that the USMMA is continuing to send USMMA cadets out to vessels where this man or woman is working, thereby putting these students in danger of future sexual assaults.
I am hereby calling for an investigation into what steps were taken by the USCG, an investigation into the actions taken by the shipping company during its "Administrative Handling" of the allegations, and an investigation into whether or not USMMA cadets are continuing to be sent to work with a sexual predator with a record of sexually assaulting USMMA students aboard his or her vessel and whether or not the USMMA is aware that they are sending cadets directly to known sexual predators.
Learning how this sexual assault was handled by the shipping company is critical to our understanding of whether or not the MARAD policies that resulted from the "Sea Year Standdown" have actually worked, and whether or not the Sea Year program is a program that can be operated safely without new and aggressive involvement of an actual federal law enforcement agency committed to putting rapists in jail.
An investigation of these matters literally has the potential to prevent the future sexual assaults of USMMA students.
Thank you for your consideration of this request for an DOT OIG Investigation.
I am more than happy to answer any questions you have for me.
V/R
J. Ryan Melogy
Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy