The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has
opened an investigation into the online posting of potentially hundreds of
explicit photos of current and former female Marines and other service members,
CNN has confirmed.
A private Facebook
group called "Marines United" contained a link to a Google Drive
folder, where the photos were being stored, a US defense official told CNN.
Members on the site solicited others to submit photos of women without their
knowledge. The cloud storage folder has been removed at the request of the
military, the official said. It was not clear to the Defense Department how
many current and former Marines may be involved in potential wrongdoing. A
former Marine originally brought the matter to the attention of the Marine
Corps last month.
Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Ryan Alvis said in a
statement. "We are thankful that Thomas Brennan, a Marine veteran,
notified the Marine Corps and NCIS about what he witnessed on the 'Marines
United' page. It allowed us to take immediate action to have the explicit
photos taken down and to prepare to support potential victims. We are exploring
what actions should be taken to best address this form of harassment in the
future”.
Brennan founded The War Horse, a military news site
investigating defense and veteran’s issues, which first reported the
allegations on a separate site, Reveal, run by the Center for Investigative
Reporting.
Gen. Robert B.
Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, also declined to comment on the
specifics of the case. "For anyone to target one of our Marines, online or
otherwise, in an inappropriate manner, is distasteful and shows an absence of
respect," Neller said. "I expect every Marine to demonstrate the
highest integrity and loyalty to fellow Marines at all times, on duty,
off-duty, and online."
credit: CNN
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