Following a U.S. Marine’s complaint that she was raped by one of her superiors, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) conducted a faulty investigation and responsible agencies failed to monitor the woman’s safety, according to a recent report by the Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Defense (DOD).
The man she accused of rape was ultimately convicted of her murder.
On May 11, 2007, Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach charged “a senior marine in her immediate chain of command” with raping her in late March and early April, which he denied categorically. The IG acknowledged that the “immediate responses (victim advocate, counselors, and command)” to the sexual assault complaint were “excellent.”
Nevertheless, the IG “concluded [that] the NCIS criminal investigation into LCpl Luaterbach’s rape complaint was both substantively and procedurally deficient.” The report explained that “NCIS agents did not conduct the criminal investigation diligently, timely, or completely, and logical investigative steps were not completed.”
Among other things, “LCpl. Lauterbach’s rape incident information was not entered into the Sexual Assault Incident Reporting Database until 6 months after her rape complaint,” the IG said. As a result, “the group responsible for reviewing sexual assault cases, was unable to faciltate LCpl Lauterbach’s care and services or assure her safety, well-being and recovery following the sexual assault, principally because it did not know about it.”
Beyond data entry errors, the investigation into the rape was plagued by mistakes. The NCIS never conducted a crime scene investigation, as required by the NCIS Investigative Manual. After interviewing the accused, the case agent failed to fact-check his alibi. “In fact, the case agent did not even obtain details related to his alibis,” the IG noted.
In mid-May, when Lauterbach reported that someone had keyed her car, “the case agent told her ‘vandalism . . . did not rise to the level of an NCIS investigation'” and “never saw a connection between the auto damage and the rape complaint.”
When Lauterbach reported two weeks later that she had been punched in the parking lot the previous night, and had bruises to show for it, the case agent did not interview the alleged rapist because Lauterbach said she did not recognize the voice of her assailant. Moreover, “the case agent did not report the physical assault or any investigative activity related to the report for approximately 18 months,” the IG added, “[when] her supervisor directed her to complete an investigative activity report regarding the assault and incorporate it into the sexual assault investigation.”
The IG concluded that “investigative efforts [into the vandalism and assault] were inadequate to determine if the incidents were related to the sexual assault complaint.”
The IG also added that “despite information available to LCpl Lauterbach’s Regimental Commander regarding her continued victimization, he failed to consult with her to monitor her well-being and ensure she received appropriate support.”
LCpl Lauterbach was last seen alive on December 14, 2007. Her body was found “buried in a shallow grave at [her accused rapist’s] off-base residence in Jacksonville, NC” on January 12, 2008. He was extradited from Mexico and convicted of murder on August 24, 2010 and sentenced to life in prison.
The IG reports that “the case agent admitted she ‘could have done a better job’ but said she did not believe heractions conrbuted to LCpl Lauterbach’s death.” The IG noted that “the Navy concurred with our report and recommendation, advising that it began many new intitiatives after the events described in this report.”
The NCIS director “has initiated an internal professional responsibility investigation,” according to an NCIS memo sent to the Secretary of the Navy but included in the IG report, “to assess the actions and performance of the special agent assigned in the LCpl Lauterbach investigation.”
