What To Know About The Nude Marine Photo Scandal

General Robert Neller, the country’s top Marine, promised Tuesday to bring to justice those responsible for the photo and video sharing scandal that’s enraptured the Marine Corps over the last two weeks. But he also admitted the investigation faced obstacles, CNN reported.

Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Neller said investigators could encounter hurdles with new “spinoff” websites and even finding specific users. It was revealed earlier this month that a 30,000-member Facebook group called Marines United, which included active-duty Marines and veterans as well as service members from other branches, had shared pictures of female Marines without their consent.

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Many of the alleged photos were graphic in nature and included nudity. Explicit videos were also spread online, according to several media reports.

"We all have to commit to getting rid of this perversion of our culture," Neller said. "We will take action to remove this stain on our Marine Corps."

With the Naval Criminal Investigative Service on the case, this has become yet another black eye for the military -- especially given recent reports that the scandal may be even bigger.

Here are four basic facts about the scandal so far:

How Did It Come To Light?

Two non-profit news websites, the War Horse and the Center for Investigative Reporting, published their findings on March 4. They said the Department of Defense had been investigating hundreds of Marines for allegedly sharing potentially thousands of nude photographs of female Marines.

When Did It Start?

The original report said the photos began circulating on Jan. 5, around the same time a female Marine was assigned to an infantry unit. However, Business Insider found that another site called AnonIB had also been used to share pictures of female service members from every military branch.

How Did People React?

Many of the comments that accompanied explicit photos are too graphic to relay, but they included descriptions of sexual acts. Others were encouraging group members to post more photos. Sometimes a picture would show a female service member clothed or naked and users would ask others to hunt down more pictures, called "wins."

According to Business Insider, one commenter wrote of one woman: "She is in the navy [sic] down in san diego [sic], anyone have any more wins?"

Roughly two weeks later another, user responded with a nude picture.

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Did Anyone Try To Stop It?

Originally, Marines United was started to help deal with mental health issues, but it devolved. Still some members of the group were fretful about the photo sharing and potential consequences, according to the Military Times. A member, in fact, claimed he was responsible for getting the group shut down on Facebook.

However, soon after the scandal broke, other groups popped up in response to continue the sharing.