Minnesota Guard: 90 sexual assault reports in past 5 years

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota National Guard says it’s received 90 reports of sexual assault in the past five years, including cases that ranged from inappropriate touching to rape.

Guard leaders shared the information with more than 400 soldiers, airmen and civilians who gathered at the Arden Hills armory Thursday to discuss sexual assaults and providing a safe work environment.

The Star Tribune reports that of the 51 cases for which the Guard could release details, 35 were incidents in which both victim and offender were Guard members. In the remaining 16 cases, the victim was a member of the Guard and the offender was either a civilian or a member of another military unit.

About 20 percent of the Minnesota National Guard’s 13,200 members are women.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Guard officials told reporters during a question-and-answer session earlier this month that they received 52 reports of sexual assault between 2013 and 2017, with more than half related to military service.