The Pentagon is looking into a second complaint filed by a woman alleging the Indiana National Guard has been dismissive of concerns about domestic abuse or harassment.

Shannon Dickerson filed a complaint alleging Indiana Guard officials failed to take appropriate action after she told them that her then-husband, Guard attorney Brian Dickerson, had beaten her.

The complaint filed with the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. also alleges Guard leaders were "derelict" in ensuring that her ex-husband provided required financial support for herself and her children.

Brian Dickerson has denied the abuse allegation, but a judge in the couple's divorce case found him responsible for breaking her foot.

The Guard confirmed to The Indianapolis Star that the Department of Army Inspector General is investigating. The Inspector General's office declined to comment.

Previously, The Star reported the Pentagon also is reviewing the actions of another Indiana Guard attorney who inadvertently sent an email to a different woman suggesting she take her harassment claim to Dr. Phil.

For some local advocates for domestic abuse victims, the two complaints suggest a disconcerting behavior in the Guard's legal office and raise larger questions about whether there is a culture problem within the Indiana Guard that would hamper taking seriously domestic abuse allegations. The Indiana Guard says that is absolutely not the case.

The Dickerson complaint revolves around the couple's contentious and protracted divorce. Contained within the more than 3,000 pages of the divorce records are a series of accusations and counter-accusations.

But if the divorce was complicated and messy, the issue before the Pentagon and the primary question for victim advocates is more simple: When did Indiana Guard authorities become aware of the abuse allegation and what did they do about it?

Those questions are important because at the time of the alleged abuse Brian Dickerson was the senior full-time legal adviser to the Guard's top commander, Adjutant General Martin Umbarger.

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Indiana National Guard: Domestic abuse and the halls of justice