Nine other former cadets at the US Coast Guard Academy have formally accused supervisors at the prestigious service academy of failing to properly prevent and address sexual violence on campus while covering it up.

The complaints, filed Wednesday, come more than a month later 13 former cadets filed similar federal complaints seeking $10 million in damages each.

Many of the most recent unnamed plaintiffs contacted lawyers in the case after reading news stories about the initial batch of administrative complaints filed against the Coast Guard; its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security; and its former parent agency, the Department of Transportation, attorney Christine Dunn said.

“I’m sure these 22 are just the tip of the iceberg. I know that sexual assault has been going on for decades at the Coast Guard Academy and that there are many survivors there,” she said. The 22 include 20 women and two men.

Dunn said he hopes and expects more former cadets who were attacked to come forward.

“I want a whole army of survivors,” she said. “I think the more people you have, the harder it is to ignore us.”

The complaints stem from incidents dating back to the 1980s and as recently as 2017. Several detail how former cadets were attacked in their dorm rooms by classmates who managed to get in because Academy policy prevented cadets from lock the doors. One former cadet described going to bed at night with a sleeping bag tight around her neck because she was so afraid of being sexually assaulted in her sleep.

“The Coast Guard actively created, condoned and concealed the egregious nature of sexual harassment and assault at the Academy, knowingly putting me and other cadets at risk,” one of the nine plaintiffs wrote us.

“What happened to me was the completely preventable result of careless actions,” wrote the woman, who said she was sexually assaulted twice during her time at the Academy — once by a classmate and once by an officer . She was diagnosed years later with depression and PTSD related to military sexual trauma, or MST, and now receives partial disability payments.

The experience at the academy, she said, “destroyed” her career and “negatively impacted” many relationships she had over the years.

A message was left seeking comment with the Coast Guard. In a statement released in September, officials said the service was prohibited by federal law from discussing the complaints and noted that it “dedicates significant resources to improving prevention, victim support and accountability.” “

The complaints follow revelations that the Coast Guard kept secret an investigation, dubbed Operation Fouled Anchor, into sexual assault and harassment on campus. The investigation found that dozens of cases involving cadets from 1990 to 2006 were mishandled by the schoolincluding preventing some perpetrators from being prosecuted.

The revelations, first reported by CNNsparked calls for major reforms and long-awaited accountability for criminals and those who protected them. There are several governments and congressional investigations under investigation into the mishandling of serious serious behavior at school and beyond.

Coast Guard officials previously said they were taking action to change and improve the culture at the academy and on duty in response to allegations raised in the Operation Cloaked Anchor investigation.

Wednesday’s filing marks the first in a multi-stage lawsuit to try to sue the federal government. After an administrative complaint is filed, the agency that allegedly harmed the complainant has six months or more to investigate the claim. The agency can settle or reject the request. If a claim is denied, the plaintiff can file a federal lawsuit, Dunn said.

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