A violent attack on a wheelchair-bound woman and the rape of a drunken teenage girl were among the alleged rapes and sexual assaults investigated at the Air Force Academy over the past 10 years, documents show.

Video

See what greets incoming cadets at Air Force Academy

The Air Force documents, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, detail dozens of cases taken up by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations since 1993.

The cases underscore many of the challenges faced by the academy, which were outlined in an Air Force task force report released last week -- including abuse of the cadet power structure and the frequent abuse of alcohol.

Current and former cadets told 7NEWS that academy leaders were dismissive of their complaints of sexual assaults at the academy and even reprimanded or ostracized them after the alleged assaults were brought to light.

In one case in December 2001, a senior Air Force Academy cadet contacted a former high school classmate who was confined to a wheelchair to arrange a date. The next day he contacted her again, suggesting they meet for a sexual encounter. She refused, but 15 minutes later he showed up at her door smelling of alcohol, pushed his way inside, sodomized her, put her back in the chair and left, the documents said.

The cadet pleaded guilty to sodomy and in March was sentenced to two years of confinement and dismissal from the service.

And in an April 1998, a senior cadet gave large amounts of liquor to a minor until she was incoherent. Then he dragged her down the hallway of a hotel, undressed her and raped her.

That cadet also was among six who have been court-martialed since 1993. He was convicted and sentenced to 42 months in jail and dismissed from the service.

In most cases, the investigative reports do not detail what action was taken, making it impossible to determine the outcome unless the dates correspond with one of the court-martial cases.

All of the names of the victims and accused parties were withheld to protect their anonymity.

In August 1999, a second-year cadet told a freshman cadet that he would keep her compact discs, which are considered "contraband" for first-year students. When she asked him to return the CDs, he refused and threatened to report her contraband to academy officials unless she performed oral sex.

The senior cadet used the leverage to coax sex from the freshman cadet as many as five more times before she reported the cadet to academy officials.

An Air Force Working Group report released last week cited that incident as an example of the abuse that could take place under the current cadet command structure and recommended that the command structure be reconsidered.

The report noted that 53 percent of victims of sexual assaults were first-year cadets, while they make up only 29 percent of the academy student body.

Changes to the command structure are already under way, as the new class of 1,300 cadets arrived at the academy Thursday.

As soon as the class of incoming cadets stepped off the bus, they found a kinder, more gentle reception. The screaming and taunting by upperclassmen -- the usual greeting for new cadets -- is now gone. The academy said it's changing how it treats new cadets in an effort to change the culture.

While some of the members of the class of 2007 and their parents were concerned about the school, they believe the academy is taking the right steps.

"I feel like she's safer now than before. Now that it has been uncovered and they've made a lot of changes," said Kristin Luttrell, the mother of an incoming cadet.

Some cadets said the reports of sexual assault at the academy first made them hesitant about the school but now they feel the problems are being addressed.

"It's going to be easier but I still think we're going to get a lot of crap from the upper classmen about being pansies and getting the easy way out this year," said new cadet Jessica Palomba.

"They basically said it's been taken cared of and policies are changing and that we're going to be OK," said Barbara Myers, with the Class of 2007.

This new class includes the greatest number of women -- 224 -- ever to enter the academy.