Mariner Accused of Raping Midshipman-X Hires Lawyer, Will Fight U.S Coast Guard Alcohol Charges

May 16, 2023

New York, NY

By: MLAA

Edgar Torrecampo Sison, the licensed marine engineer accused of raping Midshipman-X in an infamous maritime sex crime that set off the #Maritime MeToo Movement, has lawyered-up and will fight the U.S. Coast Guard’s attempt to suspend his Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) for one year over accusations he possessed and consumed alcohol on the night he allegedly raped the 19 year old engine cadet. 

Sison has hired attorney Edward S. MacColl of Portland, Maine law firm Thompson, MacColl & Bass, LLC, PA to represent him in the Coast Guard’s Suspension & Revocation (S&R) process. In an April 12, 2023 response to the U.S. Coast Guard’s complaint against him, Sison, through his attorney, denied all of the allegations leveled against him by the Coast Guard.

Sison’s Attorney: Edward S. MacColl

The Coast Guard filed its Suspension & Revocation (S&R) complaint against Sison on March 17, 2023, which was the day after CNN published “Failed oversight, lax punishments: How the Coast Guard has allowed sexual assault at sea to go unchecked,” a bombshell expose on the total and intentional failure of the U.S. Coast Guard, over decades, to address the plague of sexual abuse in the U.S. maritime industry.

Because U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg had not (and has still not) announced whether or not the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will file criminal sexual assault charges against Sison, the U.S. Coast Guard’s March 17 S&R complaint against Sison only charged the mariner with alleged alcohol violations stemming from the rape accusations. 

It is the Coast Guard’s policy to wait to bring S&R charges in cases that involve potential criminal conduct until after the DOJ has made a prosecutorial decision. However, more than 15 months after the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) turned over their completed investigation to Roger Handberg, the DOJ has still not taken any action. 

The Coast Guard’s complaint alleges that Sison committed official Misconduct by possessing and consuming alcohol aboard the M/V Alliance Fairfax in violation of Maersk Line, Limited’s “Drug and Alcohol” policy. 

The Coast Guard’s complaint against Sison also alleges that “In aggravation: Respondent [Sison] was acting as a senior officer, specifically 1st Assistant Engineer, when he invited junior crewmembers in the Engineering Department to his stateroom and encouraged them to consume alcohol until they became visibly intoxicated and vomited, which created a threat to the safety and security of the vessel and crew by impairing their ability to respond to shipboard emergencies.”

The Coast Guard is seeking a 12 month outright suspension of Sison’s MMC.

Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge Tommy B. Cantrell, who is based in Houston, Texas, will preside over the case.  

The Coast Guard is represented by prosecutor Jennifer Mehaffey and investigator LCDR Orlando Hernandez of the Coast Guard’s Suspension & Revocation National Center of Expertise in Martinsburg, WV.

Hope Hicks, aka Midshipman-X, is represented by J. Ryan Melogy of New York law firm Maritime Legal Solutions, PLLC.