Military predator exposed
Corporal admits 12 charges including indecencies on recruits One victim was just 17 years old – she speaks out today Offending while in the military does not appear on police record
A young army recruit has broken her silence after being sexually assaulted at Waiouru Military Camp by a corporal she calls a ‘‘predator’’.
Her attacker’s court martial was never publicly reported. His name was never released, and he was able to build a new career working with other women, who knew nothing of his offending.
But the victim, who has name suppression, is one of a number of women who were targeted in 2004.
Corporal Corey Michael Kennett was accused of 14 charges during a court martial held in Waiouru in 2005, including indecent assault on a woman, behaving in a disgraceful and indecent manner, failing to comply with written orders and doing an act likely to prejudice service discipline.
He was also charged with behaving in a manner likely to cause disturbance, being a secondary party to an offence and using threatening, insulting or provocative language.
Kennett pleaded guilty to 12 charges and was sentenced to six months’ detention at the Military Prison in Burnham before being dismissed from the military.
And although his victims still relive the traumatic experiences they endured, Kennett was allowed to continue with his life like nothing ever happened.
This is because a military criminal record is not reflected in police records.
Kennett, who worked in the military for 13 years, managed to successfully hide his military conviction from his civilian employers.
One of his most recent employers, Lexington Law in Christchurch, was shocked to hear of Kennett’s past and confirmed he never disclosed that he was convicted of a sexual offence.
Lawyer Jonathan Eaton, QC, said a military criminal record would not show up on police records: ‘‘It’s outside the civil jurisdiction of our courts, the court martial process.’’
However, he said the military has the option to refer matters to civil police.
Since 1994, 144 people have faced a court martial in New Zealand on charges ranging from drug possession to sexual assault.
Kennett’s crimes are contained in the summary of facts, which was released to the Sunday Star-Times under the Official Information Act.
It was March 26, 2004, when Kennett’s first victim had her encounter. The recruit was doing grenade training. When the order was given for the recruit to throw her grenade, Kennett pushed her down, and said ‘‘now you can give me a b .... ... ’’.
The woman immediately reported Kennett’s behaviour. But nothing happened.
Soon after he indecently assaulted a 21-year-old woman after ordering her to remove her pyjama pants. He improperly touched the recruit on her upper thigh, between her legs and on her underwear and placed his hands down the back of her trousers.
He also sought to have sex with her and called her a ‘‘c... tease’’. Kennett tried to lure another recruit into a darkened room to have sex, but she pointed out he was married with two kids.
She asked him what was wrong with having sex with his wife.
In another incident, Kennett made his female recruits dress in ‘‘bike shorts and singlets’’ and apply baby oil to their arms and legs. He then took turns to wrestle with each of them.
The first woman to speak out blames the military for not taking her complaint seriously at the time, because she believed had they acted, the other women would have been spared.
‘‘I do blame them for it happening over and over again.’’
The woman said Kennett was still allowed to live in the same side of barracks as her after she complained about him.
‘‘He made me feel like I had done something wrong, but I was just there for my basic training.’’
The incident ruined the experience for her and she left the military in 2006.
‘‘They just have no respect for females in the military, it just put a downer on the army really.
‘‘It was swept under the rug and the army covered it up. It happened to too many females and it’s still happening.’’
A spokesman for the Minister of Justice confirmed that military convictions are not recorded in the systems used by the civilian courts.
A New Zealand Defence Force spokesman said they do not condone behaviour such as that for which Kennett was convicted, and that a lot of work had been done to put strong policies in place for diversity and inclusiveness.
Kennett failed to answer Star-Times requests for comment.
His new partner said she believed the information should not be made public: ‘‘I can’t believe you guys are ruining someone’s life.’’
But military lawyer Colonel Craig Ruane said it was time to ensure military offenders’ faced the same accountability as civilians when they left the services.
Convictions in a court martial under military law do not appear on police records, he said. And they were not required to give a DNA sample to police, meaning if they went on to do the same type of offending outside the military, police would not have a DNA sample to compare it to.
‘‘There are some changes planned which would see convicted charged in a court martial ... recorded against the person’s criminal history,’’ he said
“The accused massaged Gunner M’s upper legs and between her thighs...” “Now you can give me a b *** *** ” “The accused sought sexual intercourse with Gunner M, a recruit under his command” “The accused came into the room from time to time while they [female recruits] were getting changed...”