Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 20, 1995 TAG: 9503200069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
Citing inconsistencies in the woman's story and an absence of any corroborating witnesses, Navy officials said Friday they were no longer pursuing criminal assault charges in the 1992 incident in Orlando, Fla. The decision followed a three-month probe by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
In an interview in Sunday's editions of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Stacie M. Nevells, 23, of Norfolk angrily attacked the Navy for failing to follow through on the prosecution and for pressuring her to back off from her claim.
Nevells charged that three Navy chiefs told her she had to prove herself before she could assume a leadership position. She said she was kicked in the head and struck repeatedly with broom handles while being told to complete physical training.
She said that when she told her chief, a woman, what had happened, the supervisor advised her to let the matter drop.
``She told me it was my word against their word,'' Nevells told the newspaper. ``She said, `You have four more years to go. You don't want to rock the boat. If you rock the boat, your life will be a living hell for the next four years.'''
Navy officials have defended their efforts, saying agents conducted interviews with 146 members of Nevells' trainee class and were unable to substantiate her story.
Capt. George Farrar, a spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, said Friday that while the incident raised questions about the treatment of trainees at the camp - the first to integrate men and women - it did not constitute an assault.
A week before the alleged beating, the Navy touted the boot camp as an example of how men and women can work together. The training center has since closed as part of the federal base-closing program.
by CNB