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Were army medic James Wilks’s bogus breast exams a symbol of hostile sexual climate?

Retired petty officer James Wilks leaves court during a break at his court martial in Gatineau, Que., on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. A military judge has rendered a guilty verdict in the sex assault court martial of Wilks on more than two dozen charges. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

Critics of how the military handles sexual assault allegations will be watching closely when James Wilks faces sentencing on a raft of sex-related charges early next year.

The former Canadian Forces medic was convicted of giving bogus breast exams to more than two dozen female recruits over a period of six years before authorities caught up with him.

"He did that for his own personal sexual gratification," Lt.-Col. Louis-Vincent d'Auteuil, a military judge, said at Wilks' court martial.

He convicted the now-retired navy petty officer of 25 sexual assault and breach of trust counts involving 16 women over at recruitment centres in Ontario between 2003 and 2009. Wilks had already served nine months in jail on similar charges after a 2011 court martial.

The cases has triggered lawsuits against the government over allegations the military ignored reports of Wilks' misconduct.

Wilks, a career serviceman for 27 years, denied he'd performed the unnecessary breast exams, testifying a few of the women "inadvertently" exposed their breasts.

“I never touched any of those people’s breasts . . . In three instances the applicants inadvertently lowered their gowns,” testified Wilks, according to the Toronto Sun.

[ Related: Wainwright, Alta., military base commander charged with sexual assault ]

But d'Auteuil believed the victims, who testified Wilks let them think he was touching their breasts as part of his examination, The Canadian Press reported.

"The court found no reason to disbelieve any of these women," the judge said.

One woman testified during the three-week court martial that Wilks asked her to remove all her clothes except underwear, despite policy that says recruits should wear shorts and T-shirts and that women recruits could have a chaperone in the room.

She said Wilks stood behind her and told her to bend over so he could check the alignment of her spine, the London Free Press reported. He then told her he might as well perform a breast exam since one would be required eventually. In fact, they're not required for women under 40.

The exam lasted two minutes, the woman testified. Wilks squeezed one of her nipples, saying he was checking for infection, while at the same time "rubbing against me and groaning." She said she didn't mention it at the time because she thought Wilks suffered from some health problem that made him groan.

When her mother later told her the breast exam was inappropriate "I felt humiliated," she testified, according to the Free Press.

Wilks' lawyer, Maj. David Hodson, claimed the woman made the whole thing up to bolster her $1.4-million civil suit against the Department of National Defence. She's one of four women who are suing the government, alleging the armed forces didn't act on reports of Wilks' misconduct.

The military, like that other Canadian institution, the RCMP, has had a problem with allegations of sexual misconduct in recent years.

A 2011 review of charges against military and civilian personnel in Canada's defence establishment found a "noticeably and disturbingly higher per capita rate of sexual violations against children, including child pornography," than in the country as a whole, the Globe and Mail reported at the time.

The report was prepared for the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal following the arrest of then-colonel Russell Williams, who led a depraved double life while commanding CFB Trenton. He confessed to killing two women, sexually assaulting others and committing dozens of break-ins to steal women's underwear.

The military found the report's results puzzling, the Globe said, with suggestions that the results may be due to the differences in the way crimes are reported, investigated and recorded in the armed forces and on "civvy street."

"There is no evidence at this time to suggest either the Canadian Forces or the wider DND community harbours a higher percentage of offenders than elsewhere in Canadian society," said the report, which covers the period 2003-2009, the years Wilks was committing his offences.

But the troubling climate within the military seems to have been reinforced by the new Canadian Forces Workplace Harassment Survey. The report, obtained The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, found women, aboriginals and visible minorities said they faced higher rates of sexual and personal harassment than other soldiers.

Most of those who responded to the survey and said they'd experienced harassment did not want to file an official complaint because they feared repercussions on the job or that they'll be labelled as troublemakers, CP said. The survey didn't touch on sexual assault, focusing on incidents such as sexual teasing, jokes and comments that created a hostile, offensive or intimidating work environment. However, CP reported six per cent of those respondents said they were sexually assaulted or subjected to an attempted assault.

The problem seems even worse in the U.S. military. The New York Times reported earlier this month that reports of sexual assault rose sharply in the last fiscal year as Congress worked on legislation aimed at addressing the problem.

[ Related: Jury acquits Air Force officer accused of groping; he once led sex-assault response unit ]

Reports of sexual assault were up nearly 30 per cent from October 2012 through June 2013, according to Defense Department data, the Times said.

Officials spun the figures as an increased willingness of victims to report the assaults after a period of bad publicity over how the military brass handles the problem.

A bill that would make changes to the military justice system is working its way through the U.S. Senate. One proposed amendment would take sexual assault cases outside the chain of command and give military prosecutors, rather than the alleged victims' commanders, the discretion whether or not to proceed with charges, the Times said.

Back in Canada, Wilks will face his sentencing hearing Feb. 24. Prosecutor Maj. Dylan Kerr told CP it is too early to say what sentence he will recommend to the court martial.

"It's a serious case in terms of the trust that was imposed on Mr. Wilks." said Kerr. "He had a position of trust and authority over some vulnerable persons."