Marines appeal to victims of photo scandal

THE head of the US Marine Corps has called on service women whose intimate photos have been shared on social media to come forward, amid a widening scandal which threatens to engulf the entire US military.

General Robert Neller, the corps commandant, urged women to report the problem after a Facebook page, Marines United, was found to be sharing images of naked female marines among its 30,000 users, which include British Royal Marines.

The US army, air force, navy and marines have all now opened investigations and the Senate’s armed services committee will examine the matter on Tuesday.

The US code of military justice explicitly outlaws distribution of sexually explicit photos of others, without their consent, as punishable by court-martial.

Former marine Thomas Brennan, who first lifted the lid on the Facebook group, has told the

that users had issued death threats against him and had placed a “bounty” on pictures of his daughter. “It has been suggested that my wife should be raped as a result of this,” he said.

Facebook has shut the page, but other variants have sprung up, with photo sharing on chat forums, Google sites and Dropbox folders.

One of the women caught up in the scandal, LCpl Marisa Woytek, told

that photos were taken from her Instagram account and posted to Marines United multiple times without her consent. “Even if I could, I’m never re-enlisting,” she said.

Gen Neller said fewer than 10 women had come forward so far and he appealed to them to “trust us”.