Nine rapes at the Harrogate military college, which trains 16- and 17-year-olds for careers in the British army, were reported to civilian police over a 13-month period to the middle of August, figures show.
Disclosed under freedom of information legislation,
the figures raise questions about safeguarding at Harrogate, and why its welfare arrangements are rated as “outstanding” by Ofsted.
North Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner
said that “13 sexual offences” at the Army Foundation college were reported between 22 July 2022 and 17 August 2023, including nine reports of rape, two of sexual assault and two of voyeurism.
No details were given as to whether they led to investigations or prosecutions, or the gender of the victims. It follows a string of reports of rape, abuse and harassment across the UK military, with the majority of the victims being women and girls.
This week, it emerged that a 19-year-old Royal Artillery gunner,
Jaysley Beck, was believed to have killed herself at Larkhill camp, in Wiltshire, after a period of relentless sexual harassment by one of her superiors.
During 2021, there
were 22 victims of sexual offences at the Harrogate college. In January 2023 one instructor, Cpl Simon Bartram
, was sentenced to 20 months’ military detention, after being found guilty at court martial of sexual assault and eight counts of cruel or indecent disgraceful conduct.