By Lolita C. Baldor and Michael Hill, The Associated Press
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that they must stamp out the scourge of sexual assault in the military.
A day after President Barack Obama delivered a similar edict to U.S. Naval Academy graduates, Hagel's message comes amid a series of widespread incidents of sexual misconduct across the armed services in recent months, and a new report showing that the problem is growing. The challenge is particularly poignant for West Point, since an Army sergeant was charged earlier in the week with secretly photographing and videotaping at least a dozen women at the upper New York state academy -- including in a bathroom.