DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — A 24-year-old female veteran's claim that she was raped in a residential facility at the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center is being investigated by VA officials from outside the Dayton VA.

The veteran, who asked not to be named, requested the independent investigation after complaining that staff at the Dayton VA did not take her allegations seriously. She said the March 25 incident was reported to VA staff March 26, but police records show she was not interviewed by VA police until April 25, almost a month later. The veteran has a service-connected physical injury.

Formal complaints filed

She filed formal complaints against five VA employees, including her mental health counselor, who "insisted (the incident) was consensual," her complaint alleges.

In the complaint, she also faults her case manager for having placed the alleged rapist in the same residential facility knowing that "he was seeing a (VA) psychologist for sexual addiction" and that she still "felt very used ... and violated" from the breakup of a consensual relationship with a VA intern involved in her care.

Dayton VA Medical Center Director Guy B. Richardson said in a written statement June 16 that an independent investigation was ongoing, but declined specific comment for reasons of patient confidentiality. "The veteran has been offered assistance and services," he said.

Red flag for VA

Advocates for women in the military say the Dayton VA case may be one more example of a military culture that fails to protect women from sexual violence. In April, Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean was charged with murdering Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, a 20-year-old Vandalia native. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of raping her in April 2007, but the incident was never reported to civilian police.

Anita Sanchez of The Miles Foundation, which advocates for improved response to violence against women in the military, said women who have been sexually assaulted or harassed are highly vulnerable to repeat abuses — a red flag for the VA as it cares for a growing number of women who report being raped in the military.

"From both military and civilian studies, prior victimization actually makes them more likely to be victimized again," she said.