Marine Corps commandant urges nude photo victims to come forward
WASHINGTON -- The commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps is condemning the use of a secret Facebook page by some Marines to share nude photos of women, including female Marines. He’s urging victims to come forward if they believe they were harassed or abused, including over social media.
Gen. Robert Neller, in a sharp video message Tuesday, says hiding on social media and being disrespectful to other Marines is embarrassing to the Corps and to the nation. And says leaders must make sure that all Marines understand the rules governing conduct, including on social media.
On its Reveal web site, the Center for Investigative Reporting found that since Jan. 30, more than two dozen women, including active duty and enlisted service members had been identified by their rank, full name and military duty station in photographs posted and linked to from a private Facebook page called “Marines United.”
In one instance cited in the report, a woman corporal in uniform was followed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina by a fellow Marine, who surreptitiously photographed her as she picked up her gear. The picture was posted to the Marines United private FB page, where dozens of obscene, sexually explicit comments were posted.
A Marine Corps official told CBS News’ Cami McCormick on Sunday that when they learned of the private website, they started asking questions and “within hours the site was gone.”
“Whoever runs it kept moving it, making it hard to even find what the scope of it was’, said the official, adding that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is looking into the matter. The official expressed sympathy the women involved.
Nude photographs of female Marines, veterans from other branches of the military and other women were shared on the Facebook page “Marines United,” and the posts included obscene and threatening comments. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating and the photographs were removed.
Top brass in the U.S. Marines have denounced the online misbehavior by Marines, which included photographing and sharing photos of women recruits and veterans and making salacious comments about them.
“There is no place for this type of demeaning or degrading behavior in our Corps,” said Sergeant Major Ronald L. Green, 18th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps in a statement to CBS News.
The investigation was first reported by the Center for Investigative Reporting. The activity was revealed by The War Horse, a nonprofit news organization run by Marine veteran Thomas Brennan.
Possible victims can anonymously contact the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at 877-579-3648 via text or app. They can also use WarHorse.org to report harassment.