US sailors aboard a guided missile submarine created a vile “rape list” targeting female crew members — and the captain in charge didn’t bother to investigate, according to a disturbing report on Friday.
Capt. Gregory Kercher was alerted that two “lewd and sexist” — and potentially dangerous — lists targeting women were found on the USS Florida last June, according to a 74-page Navy probe into the misconduct, obtained by Military.com through a Freedom of Information Act request.
“As rumors of a ‘rape list’ were promulgated throughout the crew, significant numbers of females became concerned for their safety, and male members who learned of the list were equally repulsed,” Rear Adm. Jeff Jablon, then-commander of the group’s onboard system, wrote in a letter to a higher-up, according to the report.
Kercher directed a search of the sub — which was staffed by 32 women and 141 men — to find the list and anyone using it. But he failed to launch a formal investigation or notify his command, according to the report.
“There is no question that those minimal actions fell far short of expected standards and norms for an event of this magnitude,” Jablon wrote.
A sailor on the submarine printed the first list while stationed at the Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean on June 3, and gave it to a female petty officer the next day.
Roughly 10 days later, he printed the second list, which described the women’s looks and “various sexual acts the creators of the list wished to perform with them,” according to the report. The sailor gave it to the same woman and told her male crew members were going to vote on it.
Kercher told investigators he didn’t open a formal investigation because “they only had a piece of paper,” the report states.
But female officers did “not feel safe knowing that the command ha[d] done ‘nothing’ to try to actively find out who has written or added to the list,” the investigation documents state.
At one point, the women were told by a divisional-level leader to “suck it up and not add to the drama,” according to the investigation.
It was not clear from the report which list was considered the rape list. “The second list describes aggressive sexual activity, but does not reference non-consensual acts,” the investigation notes.
Kercher was removed from the post two months later, although the report doesn’t note why. He declined to comment to Military.com.
“While I cannot guarantee that an incident such as this will never happen again, I can guarantee that we will continue to enforce our high standards of conduct and character in the Force,” Vice Adm. Chas Richard, commander of US Submarine Forces, said in a statement to Military.com. “I expect every submariner to treat one another with dignity and respect, and will hold our personnel accountable if they fall short of our standard.”