Air Force Academy officials say an amnesty clause is proof that they are serious about wanting cadet victims of sexual assault to come forward and report the crime. But 7NEWS Investigative Reporter John Ferrugia has found that many cadets believe that amnesty is an illusion.

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Most female cadets who report a rape are looking for justice.

"I realized it was a crime. And I wasn't even thinking about disciplinary action," former Air Force Academy cadet Marie said.

But they have found that in the academy, a crime doesn't always matter.

"There's always some kind of loophole where they can pull some kind of hit against you," former AFA cadet Ruth said.

In the end, women cadets have no trust or confidence they will be treated fairly.

"If you want your career to just dissolve in front of you ,then go and report. It is something nobody wants to do at all," former AFA cadet Liz said.

For Liz and other cadets who reported being sexually assaulted, the amnesty clause was important. It was supposed to protect them so they could come forward.

Gen. John Dallager, Superintendent of the Air Force Academy: It says that any of these infractions that is directly associated with the incident are deferred, non-judgmental. They are thrown into amnesty.
Ferrugia: It doesn't say that. It says it may be.
Dallager: Well, that's exactly right. It may be.
Ferrugia: So you have the option?
Dallager: That's correct.

But many cadets have found that once they reported, the amnesty clause, and indeed the Air Force honor code, was used against them to insure they were punished.

Here's how it happens: Say a woman reports a rape that occurred on Saturday. It is submitted to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

The OSI then begins to investigate the incident, but also the background of the woman who is reporting.

In the process of interviewing witnesses, if the office learns of other infractions that occurred on, say, the Thursday before the sexual assault, they then corner the victim with allegations.

According to the school's honor code, if she denies them, she is then expelled for lying. But if she admits them, she is then punished for the infractions -- infractions the academy would have never known about if she had not reported the rape.

"If we are aware of any incident that was three days prior to the actual sexual assault incident, we are going to take disciplinary action," said Dallager.

Ferrugia: Women have come forward, reported, and not gotten amnesty and gotten huge reprimands.
Dallager: Or they have that perception because it is a Thursday disciplinary event and a Saturday sexual assault.

Ferrugia: You are telling me that you reported a rape and that you are getting a reprimand for having sexual activity in the dorm?
Liz: Right, right. I was flabbergasted. I was really floored.

But the way the Air Force saw it, because Liz was raped more than once by the same person, it was her fault.

Ferrugia: In essence, they were blaming you?
Liz: Right, right.

"They are going to find some way to keep you quiet, to get you out or to punish you," said Ann.

Ann is currently an Air Force cadet and a rape survivor. She worked in the academy rape crisis program as a trained cadet counselor.

"I have seen it up and down the chain of command. I have seen what hoops you're going to have to jump through and what's going to happen to you. So in good faith, I would say, 'Do not report,'" Ann said.

"I really had a strong sense that they would blacklist me and begin picking at things I was doing, trying to give me hits that weren't completely true, trying to get me out as soon as they could," Liz said.

Ferrugia: Do you think there are women who have come forward and reported sexual assault that have been treated unfairly at the academy?
Dallager: Unfairly is probably in the eye of the individual ... It's not been done as well as it should have been.
Ferrugia: And they were hurt because of it?
Dallager: And they were hurt because of it.

Women who report also face an additional burden. If they should name witnesses who were at a gathering where cadet rules were broken, the witnesses don't get amnesty. They are charged with violations and face punishment.

So if the women report, their friends must deal with the consequences. So with all this, there is little incentive to come forward and the message is: don't report.