Military charges second member with sexual assault in as many days

OTTAWA — A second member of the Canadian Forces in Halifax has been charged with sexual assault in as many days.

Master Seaman Daniel Cooper, a naval communicator at Canadian Forces Base Halifax, faces one charge of sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident that occurred in November 2015, according to the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service.

Canadian Forces military spokesman Lt. (N) Blake Patterson said Cooper and the alleged victim, also a member of the Forces, were participating in a training exercise on board the navy’s last remaining destroyer, HMCS Athabaskan, at the time.

Cooper has also been charged with one count of abuse of a subordinate in relation to the alleged assault and faces court martial on the two charges.

Capt. (N) Paul Forget of CFB Halifax said despite the charges, Cooper remains on active duty with at the Naval Fleet School (Atlantic) pending the outcome of the military court.

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On Monday, Sgt. Kevin MacIntyre, a military police officer who was also posted to CFB Halifax, was charged with one count of sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident in Glasgow, Scotland, last year.

MacIntyre and the alleged victim, also a member of the Forces, were participating in an international training exercise at the time.

The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, the military police unit responsible for investigating serious crimes, took over the case and laid the charges.

Military police charged 34 service members with sexual offences in 2015 and 15 during the first six months of 2016.

Officials say five courts martial have been completed this year, with two military personnel found guilty of sexual assault and one on charges related to child pornography. One service member was found not guilty of sexual assault, while charges against the last person were withdrawn.

Military commanders have been grappling with the issue of sexual misconduct in the ranks since l’Actualite and Maclean’s magazines reported in April 2014 that a large number of military sexual assaults were being ignored or played down.

Retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps was tapped to lead an independent investigation into the issue and her explosive report, released in April 2015, described an “underlying sexual culture” in the military that was hostile to women and left victims to fend for themselves.

– Follow @leeberthiaume on Twitter.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press