THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512170058
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
The Navy has reprimanded and reassigned a Norfolk-based lieutenant commander for sexually harassing an enlisted female sailor and other charges.
The officer, a 28-year veteran whose name was withheld by the Navy, was found guilty at an administrative hearing Friday of orders violations, fraternization and conduct unbecoming an officer, said Naval Air Force spokesman Cmdr. Kevin Wensing.
All charges are infractions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Wensing said.
Following the hearing, the officer was given a punitive letter of reprimand, Wensing said. Such letters go into the permanent personnel files of service members and typically end any chances of advancement.
Wensing said the officer had sexually harassed at least one of his unit's enlisted females. Details on the fraternization charge, or dating subordinates, were not available.
Wensing said he didn't know when the infractions took place but said the squadron's internal investigation was completed during the past week.
The officer was a member of Fleet Logistic Support Squadron 40 at Norfolk Naval Air Station, one of the oldest mixed-gender aviation squadrons in the Navy. He has been reassigned to an unnamed command at Norfolk Naval Base, he said.
The reprimand marks the Navy's second report of sexual misbehavior this week, and the third in the wake of the training ``stand down'' ordered last month by Adm. Mike Boorda, chief of naval operations. Boorda ordered individual commands to spend a day reviewing Navy standards for ``good order and discipline'' following a string of incidents involving sexual abuse.
Tuesday, the Navy confirmed that Capt. Fred Dew, commander of the Public Works Center at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, had been temporarily reassigned following charges of sexual harassment, conduct unbecoming an officer and adultery.
Last week, the Navy said Rear Adm. Ralph Tindal, 58, a married two-star admiral stationed in Portugal, was found guilty of adultery, fraternization, conduct unbecoming an officer and sexual harassment.
Tindal was stripped of one star, fined thousands of dollars and confined to quarters for 30 days.
Dew, 47, awaits an administrative hearing.
KEYWORDS: SEXUAL HARASSMENT U.S. NAVY by CNB