MLAA Files Appeal Against U.S. Coast Guard Seeking Secret Shipboard Sexual Assault Settlement Agreements, the Names of the Perpetrators, and the Names of Federal Judges Who Approved the Agreements.

By: Ryan Melogy

Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy (MLAA) has filed an administrative appeal with the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) seeking access to all secret settlement agreements the USCG has negotiated with mariners accused of sexual misconduct over the past 30 years.

Through documents released to MLAA by the USCG via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MLAA has learned that outrageously lenient sentences for sexual misconduct are being given to mariners who agree to sign Settlement Agreements instead of contesting the charges at a Suspension and Revocation hearing before a Federal Administrative Law Judge.

In one recent sexual misconduct Suspension and Revocation case, a mariner who had recently been convicted in Virginia of criminal sexual battery (USCG vs. [Redacted by USCG], Activity #5723166 Docket # 2016-0122) was given a Settlement Agreement that resulted in only a one month suspension of his USCG-issued license. By federal law, the sex crime conviction should have resulted in the loss of all his USCG credentials and also warranted a 1-5 year assessment period following the conviction. What’s truly disturbing about this particular Settlement Agreement is that the mariner held a USCG-issued master’s license and is the Captain of his vessel.

MLAA only learned of the Settlement Agreements through references to the Agreements in investigation files released pursuant to our FOIA request by the USCG Office of Investigations & Casualty Analysis (CG-INV), which is led by Captain Jason Neubauer, but the USCG has refused to provide the actual Settlement Agreements to MLAA.

The USCG also redacted from the documents the names of the federal judges who signed the controversial and potentially explosive Settlement Agreements, even though the names of federal judges are not covered by any FOIA exemptions.

The USCG has also refused to release the names of the credentialed mariners who have signed sexual misconduct Settlement Agreements, despite the fact that in signing the agreement the defendant is required to admit to the allegations against him. MLAA seeks the names of these credentialed mariners as the maritime community should be made aware if there are sexual predators working on their ships or boats.

The USCG has 20 working days to respond to our administrative appeal.

Our fight for truth and justice continues.