THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996 TAG: 9601040334
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
A Navy cook who allegedly sexually assaulted a female subordinate on a commercial airline flight out of Norfolk in October will face a court martial, Navy officials said Wednesday.
Chief Petty Officer George Powell, 49, faces 10 charges. One involves a second incident in which a woman said he groped her breasts last January when the two were assigned to the Samuel Gompers, a destroyer tender that has since been decommissioned.
Powell faces a maximum sentence of six months' confinement, a bad-conduct discharge and forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for six months. No trial date has been set.
The recent incident took place Oct. 27 aboard an American Airlines flight from Norfolk. Other Navy personnel on board allegedly did little to stop Powell, who repeatedly groped the 23-year-old third class petty officer's breasts, thighs and crotch.
News of the event prompted Adm. Mike Boorda, chief of naval operations, to order a Navy-wide ``stand-down,'' the first since 1992, in which all sailors for a day were required to review and discuss regulations pertaining to ``good order and discipline.''
The stand-down was held last month.
During a preliminary hearing last week, Powell's attorney argued that Powell was drunk at the time and did not recall the incident. He said the Navy was partly at fault because it had failed to give Powell proper treatment when he was court-martialed in 1993 for drunk and disorderly conduct in another assault involving a female sailor.
A Navy psychiatrist who examined Powell testified he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder because of his experience in Vietnam, which he said led him to become an alcoholic.
Powell is charged with five counts of indecent assault; two counts of simple assault; and one count each of drunk and disorderly conduct, failure to obey a lawful order and showing disrespect to a commissioned officer - in this case, a Navy chaplain who intervened to stop the harassment.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT SEXUAL HARASSMENT U.S.NAVY
COURT-MARTIAL by CNB