Navy & Coast Guard Allowed Military Sealift Command Medical Officer to Quietly Retire After NCIS Investigation Found He Sexually Molested at Least Two Female Mariners Aboard USNS PECOS
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New York, NY
By: MLAA
An investigation conducted by a Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) “Assessment Team” determined the Medical Services Officer (MSO) aboard the USNS PECOS “sexually molested” at least two “young women” aboard the Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler while conducting medical examinations of the women.
According to documents obtained by MLAA from the U.S. Coast Guard via the Freedom of Information Act, following the NCIS criminal sexual misconduct investigation into the Medical Officer, Military Sealift Command “recommended the mariner for dismissal,” but the MSO “requested retirement in lieu of dismissal.”
His request for “retirement” was subsequently accepted by Military Sealift Command leaders.
The U.S. Coast Guard Enforcement Summary of the case states that following the investigation, Military Sealift Command referred the case to the U.S. Coast Guard “for prosecution.”
The Coast Guard’s investigation was conducted by the Office of Investigations & Casualty Analysis (CG-INV), was focused on the mariner’s suitability to hold a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC), and was not a criminal investigation. The Coast Guard investigation was based on documents sent to the Coast Guard by MSC and an interview with the MSO.
There is no indication in the Coast Guard Investigation Summary that the NCIS or Military Sealift Command ever referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal prosecution following the NCIS investigation that found the mariner sexually molested multiple women aboard a U.S. government vessel.
The Coast Guard also never brought Suspension & Revocation charges against the sexually predatory mariner. Instead, the Coast Guard offered the MSO the opportunity to “voluntarily surrender” his MMC to the Coast Guard in lieu of a Suspension & Revocation trial.
The MSO accepted the offer of voluntary surrender from the Coast Guard.
Per the Freedom of Information Act, the Coast Guard claims the right to redact the names of the suspects of Coast Guard investigations from documents released to the public via FOIA. However, the Coast Guard does not (yet) claim the power to redact mariner’s names from documents registered on the public docket of the Coast Guard’s Administrative Law Judge Program (ALJ).
Because the Coast Guard allowed the mariner to voluntarily surrender his MMC, the case was never docketed and the MSO’s name and anonymity remain protected by the Coast Guard.
The entire affair appears to have been carefully swept under the rug by the NCIS, Military Sealift Command, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to Military Sealift command’s job description, a mariner must be qualified as a Professional Nurse, Physician Assistant, or Hospital Corpsman in order to serve as a MSO aboard MSC vessels.
Given the MSO’s medical training, and the fact that he never faced any public repercussions or publicity for sexually molesting women aboard the USNS PECOS, it is possible and even likely that the MSO subsequently obtained shoreside employment as a medical professional following his “retirement” from Military Sealift Command.
Of the many Coast Guard investigations and Coast Guard ALJ court cases reviewed by MLAA over the past 2 years, the case of the USNS PECOS Medical Officer is the only case MLAA has found where Military Sealift Command referred a mariner to the Coast Guard for action against the mariner’s license or MMC after an internal finding of sexual misconduct.
MLAA is exploring the relationship between MSC, NCIS, and the Coast Guard in its recently announced investigation into sexual misconduct within the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command.
From horror stories MLAA has published, stories MLAA has heard and not published, and the lack of public information regarding sexual misconduct within Military Sealift Command, it seems that MSC is no different from any other shipping company in always first seeking to sweep sexual misconduct under the rug, and fighting any attempts to bring transparency and accountability to its handling of sexual misconduct allegations aboard its vessels.