The Naval Academy was established in 1845 (creative commons)

The sexual crime is recorded to have taken place last year at an off-campus party in Annapolis, Maryland, and the charges are within two violations of military justice code. The first being for sexual assault/misconduct, and the other for making a false official statement on the matter.

From Associated Press:

“The case has brought renewed focus to how the nation's military academies handle reports of sexual assaults. The service academies have struggled for years with sexual assault and harassment allegations, and a string of sexual assault cases has recently drawn attention in Congress and at the Pentagon and The White House. Many of the assault cases involve alcohol.

President Barack Obama addressed the sexual assault problem when he spoke at the academy's commissioning ceremony last month. The president said those who commit sexual assault threaten the trust and discipline that make the military strong.”

The assault is recorded to have taken place on April 22nd, 2012, with the woman’s attorney, Susan Burke, claiming that the woman woke up with bruises after a night of heavy drinking and later discovered via social media that three football players she thought of as friends had made allegations to have had sex with her while she was unconscious.

Burke continued, "My client and I are cautiously optimistic that justice will finally prevail in this case," Burke said in a statement Wednesday. "Even if this case is successfully prosecuted, the larger problem remains: rape cases in the military are controlled by untrained and biased commanders whose career interests may be served by covering up incidents like this one. The Naval Academy's handling of this case raises troubling questions about how the victim and the football players were treated. This case reflects why rape victims are fearful and skeptical of the military justice system."

READ MORE: Naval Academy Sexual Assault Investigation

While the academy closed the investigation to the same case a year ago, it has been reopened after the woman sought out legal help. According to Burke, the graduation of one of the three students was put on hold because of the recent development, while the other two were not scheduled to graduate this year.

The academy's superintendent, Michael Miller, has decided to forward the case to Article 32 proceedings to determine if there is enough evidence for a court-marital.

Reach Executive Producer Eric Parra here.