Not Feres barred

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s finding that a claim under the FTCA is not Feres barred when the claim relates to a sexual assault committed by a servicemember against a servicemember. See Spletsoser v. Hyten. The issue arose when the Government argued that Feres barred the claim. The 9th rehearses  Feres and its progeny in a helpful manner. Essentially, the court concludes that a sexual assault is not incident to service, an “alleged sexual assault [could] not conceivably serve any military purpose.”