A program that has fostered surrogate parent-style relationships for decades between midshipmen and Annapolis families suffered another black eye this week as a city alderman was charged with groping the young man he sponsored.
The Naval Academy sponsorship program, founded in 1956, was designed to give out-of-town midshipmen a place to eat a home-cooked meal or watch a little TV away from the military setting.
But this week's charges against Samuel E. Shropshire, 61, a Democratic mayoral candidate and sponsor, follow other troubling incidents: A Navy doctor who was a sponsor secretly recorded midshipmen having sex in his home; midshipmen have been accused of committing sex assaults at sponsors' homes; and two midshipmen died in alcohol-related accidents that involved sponsor families.
Naval Academy officials defended the program Thursday. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, a public affairs officer, said for three years the academy has run background searches on sponsor applicants.
"Allegations of sponsor misbehavior are extremely rare," he told The Baltimore Sun in an e-mail. "However, the Naval Academy takes any allegation of inappropriate sponsor behavior seriously and takes necessary action when incidents are reported."
Accused by a 21-year-old midshipman he has known since 2007, Shropshire was charged with second-degree assault and a fourth-degree sex offense, both misdemeanors, in allegations referred to Annapolis police by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Shropshire called the accusations a "lie" at a news conference Wednesday.
Shropshire is one of 1,400 Annapolis-area residents who sponsor midshipmen in the academy-run program. Though the program has its share of advocates, some former sponsors wonder whether it's gotten out of hand.
"In my view, that's strayed from the original conception of the program," said W. Minor Carter, a 1962 graduate and former sponsor. "The academy has a problem with the supervision. ... Sponsors are wonderful people, but they treat [midshipmen] like their own kids. They might be the most responsible student body there is, but they're still 18, 19 and 20 years old."
Carter said the Naval Academy should rethink the program.
Carla Ohler said when her family sponsored a midshipman in the 1980s, it was a great experience. She said they'd go boating, play badminton and go sightseeing.
"I didn't have a brother, and he kind of became an older brother to me," she said. "I think the program is really positive for everyone involved in it."
The Air Force Academy, West Point and the Coast Guard Academy have similar programs.
According to charging documents, the 21-year-old midshipman was in a car about 11:15 p.m. May 14 when Shropshire grabbed his crotch. The accuser pushed him away, but Shropshire placed his hand there again, documents say.
Shropshire wrote in a 2007 constituent newsletter that he has sponsored many midshipmen over more than two decades.
In 2007, after a military jury convicted Cmdr. Kevin Ronan of videotaping midshipmen having sex with civilian women in his Annapolis home, Shropshire spoke to The Sun for an article on the effect of the scandal on the program. He acknowledged that sponsors and midshipmen often break certain rules.
"I'm not here to make sure they follow all the Naval Academy rules," Shropshire told The Sun at the time. "I tell them the rules of the house, which are no underage drinking and no crazy stuff going on while I'm gone, and they have to make sure the house is in better condition than when they arrived."
