Lewell, who sits on the Defence Committee, said: “I think as a matter of urgency there should be an independent inquiry into the college led by someone with significant safeguarding experience, and they need to be able to speak to the children there.
“There’s been an ongoing complaints for a long time now around sexual assault, bullying, sexual abuse and physical abuse so it’s a matter of urgency.”
The letter to the defence secretary from the Lib Dems MPs was written by Tom Gordon, who represents Harrogate and Knaresborough, and James MacCleary, the party’s defence spokesman.
They said “it is essential that the full facts are established openly and that meaningful action is taken to restore confidence”.
“Such an inquiry should examine not only the specific allegations that have emerged, but also whether there are systemic barriers preventing victims from coming forward, whether existing reporting mechanisms are fit for purpose, and whether appropriate safeguarding arrangements are consistently being implemented,” they add.
The Child Rights International Network, a human rights organisation, said it had been involved in documenting allegations at the college, adding the case for an independent inquiry was “urgent and essential”.
The Army said “unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place in our Armed Forces” as it called for victims and witnesses of criminal behaviour at the college to come forward.
It said several reforms had been introduced to support victims, including the Defence Serious Crime Command providing specialist support through the justice process – outside of the Army chain of command.
AFC is the largest military training establishment for under-19s in the UK and it receives all the Army’s 16-year-old recruits.
North Yorkshire Police told the BBC in a response to a Freedom of Information Act request it had received 16 reports of sexual offences linked to the college in the year to June, including allegations of exposure, voyeurism and sexual assault.
No information was included on whether the reports had led to prosecutions.
A total of 176 complaints of inappropriate sexual behaviour at the college were made between January 2018 and June 2025, according to Ministry of Defence (MoD) data.
