Accountability for domestic violence

Domestic violence is a great concern everywhere and Congress has mandated that the military take steps to address the problem and hold offenders accountable. For example, an amendment to the UCMJ creates a domestic violence offense. The violence is not just between spouses and children but includes an "intimate partner, or an immediate family member of that person;" for example, the live-in mother-in-law or the visiting girlfriend or fiancee. The offense also covers "any property, including an animal[.]" Yes, there are cases where a family dog is injured, or involve punching a hole in the wall, etc., etc., etc.

Which brings us to the ongoing court-martial of an An Army lieutenant colonel charged this month with 16 counts of domestic abuse. The charge sheet details how he allegedly beat, harassed and emotionally abused his wife, doing so on two separate occasions in front of an unnamed child, over a nine-month period between late 2022 and mid-2023.

Reports military.com. The child is also a charged victim because of the circumstances.