Jess Phillips has urged the Ministry of Defence to take responsibility after two women said a jurisdictional gap had denied them justice over alleged sexual abuse at a British Army-run school in West Germany.
The women, whose names have been changed in reporting, say they were abused as children at a school in Bünde in the 1980s. The alleged perpetrator has not been arrested or interviewed and the allegations have not been tested in court.
The MoD’s Defence Special Crimes Unit closed its investigation in July after concluding that it could not establish jurisdiction over the man because records did not show whether he was employed on a UK contract. German time limits for investigating the historic allegations had already expired.
Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said the case exposed a cultural issue within the MoD and argued that the state remained responsible for women who were wrongfully treated while under its care.
She called on the military not to continue past institutional failings. The case raises questions about whether similar jurisdictional uncertainty could affect other people who report historic abuse connected to overseas military schools.
