The Pentagon’s inspector general said Wednesday, May 22, 2024, that investigators will evaluate how the Defense Department and military services respond to allegations of child abuse at its day care facilities. ((iStock))

The Pentagon’s inspector general said Wednesday that investigators will evaluate how the Defense Department and military services respond to allegations of child abuse at its day care facilities after parents have said they were not informed immediately when their children were harmed at on-base care centers.

Inspector general investigators will review policies and procedures for identifying and reporting allegations of child abuse at military-operated child development centers, Bryan Clark, the assistant inspector general, wrote Wednesday in a letter to the Defense Department, National Guard Bureau, Army, Navy and Air Force.

The evaluation will review how those allegations are addressed and communicated, Clark wrote.

The announcement of the IG review follows complaints from parents whose children were harmed in child care facilities who said they were not immediately informed about it or that officials at the center did not contact criminal investigators in a timely manner.

Army Capt. JD Kuykendall and his wife Kate Kuykendall said last year that their daughter was abused in a Navy-run facility in Hawaii and their concerns were downplayed for months — an allegation that the Navy has countered. Kuykendall conducted his own review of day care surveillance footage and was able to get civilian law enforcement to file charges against two women who worked at the facility.

“We are encouraged to see advocacy from so many sources turn into movement on such a critical issue as this,” the Kuykendall family said in a statement. “We hope that the continued pressure sees through meaningful change and accountability and will support any good faith efforts aimed at preventing child abuse at any [child development center].”

Similar concerns have come from parents who had children involved in cases at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona and the Army’s Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania.

Five senators sent a letter in April to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding answers on the subject, which has garnered media attention in the past year. Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., said an investigation from Military.com showed there seemed to be an “emphasis on protecting the reputation of the Department of Defense facilities and personnel.”

“In several instances, [child development centers] were slow to identify abuse, did not quickly inform families about incidents, and had no clear lines of responsibility for investigating or holding perpetrators accountable. If accurate, this situation is completely unacceptable,” the senators wrote.

Clark’s letter stated the inspection would begin this month, but he did not outline a timeline for completion. He did not say when the second phase of the inspection would begin.