Health · ArchiveArmy Teen College: 16 Sexual Offence Reports in a Year as BBC Uncovers Rape AllegationsAired August 7, 2026 at 1:55 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Four young women have told the BBC they0:02were sexually assaulted and harassed as0:03teen recruits at the Army Foundation0:05College in Harrogate, the largest0:07military training establishment for0:08under 19s in the United Kingdom and the0:10only institution that receives every0:1116-year-old entering the British Army.0:13Tilly, [music] speaking under a0:14pseudonym, says she was raped by several0:17fellow junior soldiers, boys her own0:19age, in an attack that lasted hours.0:21[music] She says the men started taking0:23her clothes off and did things she did0:25not consent to. Afterwards, she says she0:27heard an instructor moving through the0:29barracks asking other soldiers, "Have0:31you heard about that slag who shagged0:32all those blokes?" [music] Tilly0:34reported the incident to police and told0:35the BBC, "It ruined my life. It needs to0:38be closed down." Monica, also a former0:40recruit, says a junior soldier trapped0:42her in a room, stood against the door,0:44and sexually assaulted [music] her0:45before she managed to push him off. She0:47says there is a worrying amount of girls0:49that have not spoken up and describes an0:50underground world that nobody talks0:52about. The mother of another former0:54soldier says her daughter was sexually0:56assaulted at the college and had to0:58sleep across her door because the lock1:00was broken.1:01The Ministry of Defense says all rooms1:03have locks. North Yorkshire Police1:05received 16 reports of sexual offenses1:08linked to the college in the [music]1:09year to June, according to a BBC Freedom1:11of Information Request. The reported1:14offenses include exposure, voyeurism,1:16and sexual assault. [music] No1:17information was provided on whether they1:19led to prosecutions. There are currently1:2170 female junior soldiers at the1:23Harrogate site out of a total of 889.1:27A recent Ministry of Defense survey1:28suggests [music] almost 70% of women in1:30the armed forces experienced at least1:32one sexualized behavior [music] in the1:33last year. The investigation also1:35revisits the case of Gunner G Beck. In1:382021, the 19-year-old took her own life1:40at her barracks in Wiltshire months1:42after she was sexually assaulted by1:43Warrant Officer Michael Webber. A1:45coroner ruled that the assault and the1:47army's failure to take appropriate1:48action more than minimally contributed1:50to her death. Webber was jailed for six1:52months.1:52>> [music]1:52>> The Center for Military Justice says the1:54government is not doing enough to1:56eradicate criminal behavior, [music]1:58that such experiences are reasonably1:59widespread, and that there is sustained2:01sexual [music] harassment, bullying, and2:03in some cases extremely serious sexual2:05violence. The center says the systems2:07inside the armed forces [music] are2:08failing. The Ministry of Defense called2:10the reports extremely distressing and2:12serious and said unacceptable [music]2:14and criminal behavior has absolutely no2:16place in the armed forces. The MOD says2:18it has created the Defense Serious Crime2:20Command, an independent body outside the2:23army chain of command with a specialist2:24team victims throughout the justice2:26process. [music] An army spokesperson2:28said people join hoping for a fantastic2:30career and any such reports go against2:32everything the army stands for.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗