Gay Sailor Brutalized for Two Years After Refusal to Visit Prostitute

Navy Promoted Supervisor Responsible for Violence

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was
released today by The Palm Center:

Youth Radio reported today that former Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Rocha
was brutalized for more than two years at his base in Bahrain after unit mates
first suspected that he is gay. The Navy promoted the Chief most responsible
for the violence, even though Naval officials were aware of his role in
creating the climate of abuse.

Official Navy documents confirm that after Rocha's unit mates first suspected
that he is gay, they engaged in a two-year pattern of abuse including
hog-tying him to a chair and pushing him, still bound, into a dog kennel full
of feces. Rocha says that they forced him to simulate oral sex with a man more
than thirty times, on video tape, as part of a training exercise to teach
sailors how to respond to a hypothetical complaint about homosexual sex. And
they hit him as hard as they could repeatedly while forcing him to bend over a
desk. The documents are available at www.youthradio.org.

Rocha was a military police officer with anti-terrorism training who graduated
at the top of his military class, and who received favorable performance
evaluations throughout his career. His unit mates first suspected that he is
gay in 2004 when he refused to sleep with female prostitutes, a practice that
was widespread at his base. Rocha did not report the abuse, which continued
until 2006, because he feared retaliation as well as discharge under "don't
ask, don't tell." According to Aaron Belkin, Director of the Palm Center, "It
is very hard for an organization to get rid of abuse as long as discrimination
remains official policy."

After a colleague complained, the Navy launched an investigation, which
concluded in 2007. Official documents from the investigation were obtained
recently via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by one of Rocha's unit
mates.

While Rocha was singled out and forced to endure the longest period of abuse,
others were victimized as well. An official military summary of the
investigation lists 93 incidents and types of abuse including throwing hard
rubber balls at the groin, allowing a dog to attack a sex worker, and
handcuffing two female sailors to a bed and forcing them to simulate lesbian
sex while being videotaped.

Since the launch of the investigation, the Navy has promoted Chief Michael
Toussaint to the rank of Senior Chief. Toussaint was the petty officer in
charge of Rocha's unit, and perpetrated or presided over most of the abuse.

Following his return from the Middle East, Rocha developed symptoms of PTSD.
After acknowledging to his superiors that he is gay, he was discharged under
"don't ask, don't tell."

The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa
Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions
of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more
by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the
notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality
information is available. For more information, visit
www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.

Aaron Belkin
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=90488

Nathaniel Frank
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=85094

SOURCE The Palm Center

Indra Lusero, Assistant Director of the Palm Center, +1-303-902-9402,
indralusero@palmcenter.ucsb.edu