Eons: APRIL IS SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HARASSMENT MONTH (from lakelady53’s blog)

posted 4 months ago, updated 3 months later

April is also sexual assault awareness and sexual harassment month. This blog is done in tribute to Maria Lauterbach. She was a Marine, and soon a mom to be, and a daughter and a sister, and a friend, but now she is in heaven with her baby son. Why? Another Marine is alleged, I have to say, as he has not been to trial, to have raped her. She was pregnant from the rape and was pressing charges, and he was threatening her. She had a restraining order that he walked right through. She and her unborn child were found burnt and buried in his backyard. He ran away to Mexico to escapes charges and the consequences of his actions. The group I belong to off of eons has helped her family and does advocacy for sexual trauma in the military and sexual harassment in the military. They are grieving so, and cannot understand why know one did more to prevent this from happening to their daughter? I hope they can get some closure now that the Marine who did this is being brought back to the US to face the consequences of his actions.

This is very near to my heart, as I am a survivor of sexual trauma/harassment from my years in the military. I am still proud I served now, but there was a time I was not so proud of that the fact I did. I have PTSD from the events that happened to me. It has taken years to come to terms with those events. I would say 99% of the men I served with were honorable and decent. The one percent that were not made my life a living hell. I will not go into detail, this blog is for Maria and any veteran that is out there suffering in silence for things that happened do them in the military. I used to hear things like "Well, you joined the Navy this is man's world, what did you expect?". I tried my best to change that attitude, but it is still happening, and Maria paid the ultimate price. Let's make April count not just for child abuse, but for sexual assault and sexual harassment awareness and not just for women, because although, it is not talked about much, it does happen to men too. I belong to a group called VETWOW, and one of our sub-groups is for men who were assaulted, and the stigma is as bad or worse for them.

I do not want Maria's death to be in vain. I hope everyone will educate themselves on sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military. I also pray for survivors that it happens too daily in the civilian sector. This blog will focus on Maria though, and may her death unite civilians, and the military, and veterans, and other eon members to stand up and say "enough is enough".I have enclosed a link to a guestbook for Maria from legacy.com. What will Maria's legacy be? I hope it is to prevent this happening to another man or women. Thanks for reading and supporting this from happening again.
THIS IS THE LINK TO MARIA LAUTERBACH'S GUEST BOOK
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ADDING LINKS AND RESOURCES FOR WOMEN VETERANS..DO NOT SUFFER ALONE!

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RAINN

AWARENESS RIBBON

I ALSO RUN A PTSD GROUP HERE AT EONS, NOT JUST FOR VETS BUT FOR PTSD. I HOPE ONE DAY TO GET ONE GOING FOR VETS. THE CURRENT ONE IS PTSD-NO ONE KNOWS!

HERE IS A LINK FOR WOMENVETERANSOFAMERICA
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ANOTHER LINK IF YOU HAVE BEEN ASSAULTED RATHER YOUR A CIVILIAN OR VET..PLS CK OUT THE LINK FOR "NATIONAL CENTER FOR PTSD"
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AS MANY MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW WE LOST ANOTHER WOMEN VETERAN...HER KILLER, ANOTHER MILITARY MAN WAS CAUGHT TODAY!

Arrest made in slaying of pregnant N.C. soldier

By TOM FOREMAN JR., Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago

RALEIGH, N.C. - A Fort Bragg soldier was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday in the death of a pregnant colleague whose partially decomposed body was found in a motel bathtub in Fayetteville more than a month ago, police said.
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Edgar Patino, 27, of nearby Hope Mills, was arrested at his home without incident just after 8 p.m. in the death of Army Spc. Megan L. Touma, said Fayetteville police watch commander Lt. Lars Paul. Paul said Patino was stationed at Fort Bragg but couldn't provide his rank or unit.

Patino was being held in the Cumberland County Jail without bond and was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. No further details were immediately available, but police have scheduled a 11 a.m. news conference Wednesday.

Touma, 23, was found dead June 21 at a Fayetteville motel after a maintenance supervisor smelled a foul odor coming from a room, which had been protected by a "Do Not Disturb" sign for four days. A dental specialist from Cold Spring, Ky., Touma was seven months pregnant and had recently arrived from a base in Germany.

Investigators haven't released a cause of death or motive.

She was last seen alive not long after she arrived on June 12 at Fort Bragg, home to the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and its Special Operations Command. She was divorced, though authorities have said nothing about the father of her child.

She was temporarily assigned to Fort Bragg's 19th Replacement Company, and would have eventually been assigned to work at a base dental clinic.

Authorities have said a soldier studying psychological warfare at Fort Bragg was a person of interest in the case. It wasn't immediately clear if police were referring to Patino.

Police also investigated a letter sent to The Fayetteville Observer from a person who claimed to be a serial killer responsible for Touma's death. The letter featured a circle-and-cross drawing that was the same as one used a generation ago by San Francisco's infamous Zodiac Killer. Authorities said a similar symbol had also been drawn in lipstick on the motel room mirror.

Police have said they believed the letter was written to mislead investigators and the media.

Two other servicewomen have been killed this year near North Carolina bases.

Earlier this month, 24-year-old Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc was found dead near Camp Lejeune three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment. Her estranged husband who is stationed at Camp Lejeune, Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, has been charged in her death.

In January, the body of pregnant 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach was discovered in a shallow grave near Camp Lejeune. Her former co-worker, Cpl. Cesar Laurean, fled to Mexico but was arrested April 10. He has been charged with murder and is awaiting

Comments

1. 4 months ago Akicita wrote:: Thank you for the great post and everyone needs to be aware of this. Not just during the month of April but always. We can not stop it over night, but with the effort of everyone, we can do it one at a time.
2. 4 months ago wolfmom2 wrote:: WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS YOUNG LIFE AND LIFE OF HER UNBORN IS UNCONSCIONABLE; MY HEART ACHES FOR HER, HER SON AND HER ALL INCLUSIVE FAMILY. I AM ALSO A SURVIVOR OF RAPE, BY MY EX-HUSBAND. SOME SAID IT WAS MY 'DUTY' AS A WIFE; NOT AND I REPEAT NOT A DUTY WHEN YOU HAVE JUST COME HOME WITH A NEW BABY DELIVERED BY C-SECTION.
YES, PEOPLE NEED TO BE EDUCATED; AND I BELIEVE THAT THESE PREDATORS NEED TO BE PUNISHED TO THE HIGHEST LIMIT OF THE LAW. WE ALL NEED TO LOBBY OR WRITE OUR STATE OFFICIALS AND THOSE THAT WORK TO 'PROTECT AND SERVE' FULL FILL THEIR DUTY WHEN RESTRAINING ORDERS ARE VIOLATED IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM. I HAVE BEEN TOLD, "IF THE PERP IS NOT ON YOUR PROPERTY OR THE POLICE CAN SEE NO BRUISES", THAN NOTHING CAN BE DONE......MAKING US FEEL TWICE VIOLATED.
ENOUGH IS, IN DEED, ENOUGH.
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS.
WOLFMOM2
3. 4 months ago vthomison wrote:: Thank you for opening this discussion. On April 9th I received an email update from the office of Senator Bill Nelson of Florida regarding a hearing he chaired on sexaul assaults against American women that are going unpunished in Iraq and Afghanistan. I remember from my own days in the military that these events were often ignored or excused away. In some cases, the victims were actually made to feel that they were responsible for causing the attack. Naively, I had assumed that in the post Tailhook scandal era that this situation would have improved. Apparently that is not the case.

I'm sorry I don't know how to post a link to the article about this hearing. It makes for disturbing reading.
4. 4 months ago aarped wrote:: Thank you for letting us know what goes on 'behind the scenes' for female military personnel. This is not somethign that we hear about on the news which is unfortunate because it needs to be out in the light of day.
5. 4 months ago waya1spirit wrote:: One step at a time. Wado, lakelady53, for not only posting this, but also for your fight to let everyone know of the abuses that go on in the military. As you said, 99% are decent and kind, it's the other 1% that make it unbearable. Again, wado.
6. 4 months ago cloudyblue wrote:: LL thank you for this thoughtful post. It is indeed a terrible thing that happened and it needs to be stopped. Awareness is the first step. From there authorities need to be held accountable for their failure to protect this young woman and how many more women are left to hang in the breeze. In the military and in civilian life as well. Thank you for sharing with us, some of your story and this post.
7. 4 months ago NoHiddenMeaning wrote:: My eyes have been opened to a problem that I didn't know existed through the thoughtful posts on Eons such as this one, LL. You are correct...the first step has to be awareness! Thank you for what you are doing toward that end.
8. 4 months ago lakelady53 wrote:: THIS IS THE OTHER ORGANIZATION I BELONG TOO FOR SEXUAL TRAUMA FOR VETERANS. HERE IS THE LINK FOR ANY VET WHO WANTS HELP BESIDES HERE AT EONS.
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APRIL IS SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HARASSMENT MONTH

posted 4 months ago, updated 3 months later

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lakelady53