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Lewd Comments on Facebook Page for Military Servicemen Raises Alarms

"That needs to be addressed. It needs to be talked about and worked on and fixed," said Nikita Mitchell, a woman who came across the social media page

A Facebook page for local active and retired military service members has raised red flags over its lewd and inappropriate content.

The page, dubbed "Mendleton," has more than 37,000 followers.

On it are numerous disturbing comments that include mocking a disabled woman and making sexually explicit comments about a 14-year-old girl.

Under new guidelines, a Marine who posts defamatory, discriminatory or threatening content can be punished in military court.

One woman, Nikita Mitchell, told NBC 7 that her father served in the military for 20 years. She came across the page a couple of days ago when a friend shared it online.

"I was angry, I was disgusted," said Mitchell. "It was very hard to read, and it makes me want to cry just thinking about it again."

Other sexually suggestive comments on the Facebook page include this remark about a minor: "I can't wait until she starts doing porn."

"If you're going to make comments like that about children, it says a lot about where your moral compass is," said Mitchell.

In light of the "Marines United" Facebook page, which was used for the nonconsensual posting of photos of female U.S. military members, this new Facebook page is getting a lot of attention.

"They feel like, it's okay if people know that they said these disgusting, heinous things because they are not going to get in trouble for them," said Mitchell.

Back in March, an investigation was launched into the Marines United Facebook group. Since then, the U.S. Marine Corps has updated its social media guidelines to crackdown down on service members guilty of online misconduct. When the social media scandal become a national controversy, the highest levels of the Marine Corps publicly condemned the behavior.

Some social media users have pointed out the lewd comments on "Mendleton," but Mitchell says it's not enough.

"That needs to be addressed. It needs to be talked about and worked on and fixed," said Mitchell.

Carls Redding, a spokesperson for Camp Pendleton, sent NBC 7 a statement Friday in response to the comments on the Facebook page, saying they are investigating the page. But, since it's a closed group, they need "additional law enforcement techniques" to investigate further.

"At our level, it is impossible to know the members or if some of the participants are active duty Marines," the statement read, in part.

Redding stated anyone with a complaint about certain websites could report them to NCIS and the inspector general.

According to the statement, there are guidelines should active-duty service members engage in inappropriate behavior.

"Any active duty Marine found to be engaging in inappropriate activity will be investigated and held accountable by their commands if found guilty. If active duty Marines are participating in derogatory behavior online, they are violating the UCMJ and what it means to be a Marine and a good citizen of this county. We have no ability to punish those not on active duty. Potential violations of Local, State and Federal laws by non-active duty individuals online must be reporte[d] to and investigated by civilian authorities."

NBC 7 spoke to one of the moderators of the "Mendleton" page Friday who said the page is a source of great support for military members and an outlet where they can connect and help each other.

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