PARRIS ISLAND, SC - FEBRUARY 26:  Female Marine recruits sit with their feet at a 45 degree angle, the same angle they are at while standing at the position of attention, while having lunch during boot camp on February 26, 2013 at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina. Female enlisted Marines have gone through recruit training at the base since 1949. About 11 percent of female recruits who arrive at the boot camp fail to complete the training, which can be physically and mentally demanding. On January 24, 2013 Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta rescinded an order, which had been in place since 1994, that restricted women from being attached to ground combat units.  (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Marines photo scandal sparks investigation
02:22 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

The service member was sentenced to 10 days confinement

The servicemember's rank was also reduced by three grades and forfeited two-thirds of their monthly pay

89 people are being investigated including 22 civilians and 67 active-duty or reserve Marines

CNN  — 

A US Marine tied to the “Marines United” Facebook group was court-martialed last month, the first to face trial in relation to the scandal involving the non-consensual sharing of explicit images which came to light in March.

The individual pleaded guilty at a summary-court martial “related to the nonconsensual sharing of explicit photos on the Marines United Facebook group,” according to a press release issued Monday by the US Marine Corps.

According to the release, the service member was sentenced to 10 days confinement, had their rank reduced by three grades and was forced to forfeit two-thirds of their monthly pay. The release added that the process to administratively separate the Marine from the service branch is “underway.”

The statement said that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) had scanned “nearly 131,000 images across 168 social media sites” and was reviewing information relating to “89 persons of interest as a result of incidents related to the nonconsensual sharing of explicit photos and other online misconduct.”

Of those 89 people, 22 are civilians and 67 are active duty or reserve Marines.

The statement said five of those cases remain under investigation by NCIS while “62 have been passed to appropriate Marine commands for disposition,” adding that in addition to the one court martial, there have also been two administrative separations, seven “non-judicial punishments” and 22 adverse administrative actions.

While individual punishments are carried out by individual commands within the Marines, the release also noted the work of the special Task Force that was launched shortly after it was discovered that hundreds of explicit photos of current and former female Marines and other service members may have been posted on a private Facebook page.

“We will not tolerate a lack of respect for any member of our team,” Gen. Glenn Walters, the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps and head of the Task Force, said in a statement accompanying the press release.