Mother accusing Nevada National Guard of mishandling daughter's sexual assault case speaks out | News

A mother of a former Nevada National Guard and the nonprofit Veteran Sisters are accusing the National Guard of being responsible for her daughter's death after they allegedly failed to handle her sexual assault case properly. 

Allison Bailey was a Sgt. 1st Class in the Nevada National Guard and according to the nonprofit, Bailey had opened a sexual assault case in 2021 after she was allegedly raped by another guardsman at a social event. 

After reporting her sexual assault, Veteran Sisters and Bailey's mother, Felicia Cavanagh says the Guard began to mistreat her.

They accuse the National Guard of charging Bailey with multiple violations of Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Article 15 is the hearing or forum in which a commander will decide whether or not an offender has committed a specific offense or offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

They say these included her having a sexual relationship with her rapist, her trying to coerce subordinates to sleep in her bed, falsifying documents and making false official statements. They also say that the Guard demoted Bailey from and E-7 to an E-1.

She then received an 'other than honorable' discharge from the Guard.

After a protest was held by Cavanagh and Veterans Sisters outside the Nevada National Guard in Reno Tuesday, the Guard released the following statement: 

The Nevada National Guard (NVNG) followed procedures in place throughout Ms. Allison Bailey’s misconduct investigation, her subsequent sexual assault allegation and the separation board made up of out-of-state military officers. This included a six-month investigation by civilian law enforcement of the state police force. By design, the NVNG has no influence over the outcome of civilian law enforcement investigations. The concerns raised are related to disappointment with the outcome of multiple investigations and have nothing to do with the NVNG failing to follow procedures as required by law, regulation, and the National Guard Bureau.

The NVNG does not investigate sexual assault allegations, per a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2019 with the Nevada Department of Public Safety (DPS). Instead, these cases are handled by trained professionals of the Major Crimes Section of Nevada DPS, which did not find sufficient evidence to press charges against the alleged perpetrator in Ms. Bailey’s case.

The NVNG takes sexual assault in the force seriously. Throughout the past four years, the NVNG entered an MOU with DPS, launched awareness campaigns to encourage survivors to come forward and report cases while also, in 2021, changing state law expanding definitions of sexual assault and harassment in the military. Coinciding with the awareness campaign, the NVNG saw an increase in sexual assault and harassment cases in 2020 and 2021. The NVNG views an increase in cases as a good thing because it shows survivors are more willing to come forward and report cases. Most of these recent cases involve a Guardsman or Guardswoman as the victim and the perpetrator as someone outside the military, not a member of the NVNG. Additionally, the majority of the cases also go back several years, one as far back as 2001.

The NVNG employes a team of sexual assault response coordinators (SARCs) and victim advocates to support all members, regardless of whether the perpetrator is in the military or not. The NVNG has SARCs available on call 24/7.

Throughout Ms. Bailey’s case, the NVNG provided all due process rights, including two separate Trial Defense Service attorneys. The decision to not charge the alleged perpetrator (handled by DPS) and the separation board (handled by military officers outside Nevada) were all handled through procedures in place. There are no other appeals available in the state of Nevada. Additional review is available through the U.S. Army Board of Corrections of Military Records. For more information on that review process, please visit Request Correction of Military Records > U.S. Department of Defense > Article

Bailey's mother claims that being discharged resulted in Bailey losing her career, retirement and caused health to deteriorate.

"The Nevada National Guard likes to state that the procedures were followed, but they were not," Felicia Cavanagh said. "An outside agency needs to investigate so that we can get to the truth."

Veterans Sisters say Bailey died from illness.