The Associated Press
Thursday 24 April 2008
Dayton, Ohio - A member of the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday that he wants the Department of Defense to review what he called a botched investigation of a pregnant Marine's rape allegations against a corporal now charged in her death.
The Marine Corps has defended its response to a May 2007 rape complaint by 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. Her burned body was found along with her fetus in a shallow grave in the back yard of a colleague at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Authorities have said they think Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 21, of Las Vegas, killed her in mid-December. He was arrested April 10 in Mexico, has been charged with murder and is awaiting extradition.
"As additional details of the rape investigation have become public, it is now clear that the Marine Corps should have done more to protect Maria and her unborn child," said Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio.
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In a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday, Turner asks for a review, listing complaints about the Marine Corps' investigation.
Turner noted that it took seven days from the time Lauterbach first reported that she had been raped for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to interview Laurean about the allegations. He also said a DNA sample was not sought from Laurean during the rape investigation.
The Marine Corps acknowledged that a military protective order was allowed to lapse because of an administrative oversight and that Lauterbach was not advised to seek a civilian protection order when she moved off base, the congressman said.
Turner's letter also says Lauterbach was not offered reassignment to another base after reporting that she had been raped while on duty. He also says the Marine Corps described Laurean as a "stellar" Marine four days after Lauterbach's body was found buried in his yard.
There were also periods of as much as three weeks during which the discovery of key pieces of information regarding Lauterbach's disappearance went unreported to base officials, Turner said.
The Defense Department referred requests for reaction to the Marines, which responded to The Associated Press in an e-mail.
The corps stands by its Jan. 15 statement that describes actions taken from the time Lauterbach made the allegations until her death was reported, Lt. Col. Curtis Hill wrote.
"The command took the appropriate and diligent steps to facilitate a criminal investigation into Lauterbach's allegations and to keep her separated from the accused by distance and an order to the accused to remain away from her," Hill said.
A message was left with Laurean's lawyer, W.H. Paramore III, after business hours Thursday.
Laurean and Lauterbach were assigned to the same logistics unit.