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Mattis to meet with military leaders on nude photo sharing

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Former Marine Erika Butner, left, and active duty Marine Marisa Woytek.

WASHINGTON >> The Pentagon chief will meet his military and civilian leaders in coming days about reports that nude photos of female service members are being secretly posted online without their permission.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said today that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is troubled by the allegations and wants the services to take appropriate action.

Former and current female Marines have said their photographs were shared on social media without their consent. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation into the matter and is urging victims of the photo-sharing to come forward.

NCIS says it has received numerous tips. The other services are looking into the matter, but say they aren’t aware of other victims.

Active-duty Marine Marisa Woytek and former Marine Erika Butner appeared at a news conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday to applaud the investigation.

Butner, 23, who served for four years before leaving the Marines in 2016, said she contacted investigators in January and told them there was an online storage drive that contained “indecent photos of women from all military services, organized by name, rank and even where they were stationed.”

The women’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, said there may be hundreds of such postings and that they prompted pornographic and violent replies, including some recommending that female Marines be raped or shot.

In a video message released Tuesday, Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said Marines should be focused on preparing to fight, “not hiding on social media participating in or being aware of actions that are disrespectful and harmful to other Marines. It’s embarrassing to our Corps, to our families and to the nation.”

The nearly four-minute video, distributed on various Marine websites and social media pages, were the first expansive comments Neller made about the reports.

Victims can reach the NCIS here.

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