Sexual Misconduct

Members of two United Methodist congregations in southern Anne Arundel County are vigorously protesting the suspension of their popular minister while allegations including sexual misconduct are investigated.The protesters have organized themselves as the Support Group for the Rev. Warren Brice of Sollers and Union Churches.They say they represent a majority of the two Methodist congregations in the community of Lothian with a total of about 300 members.Mr. Brice denied the allegations in an interview last night, calling them "trumped up."

A longtime coach at the Baltimore swim club that has turned out several Olympians — including Michael Phelps — resigned after an allegation of "inappropriate conduct" with a female athlete was revealed, officials of the sport's national governing body said Friday. The North Baltimore Aquatic Club reported the coach, who was not identified, to swimming authorities in October 2011, according to USA Swimming, the Colorado-based governing body. The coach was forced out of the position within 48 hours after club officials became aware of the allegation last fall, and the club contacted Baltimore County authorities, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

Acting on new allegations, a Howard County grand jury indicted a science teacher on sexual misconduct charges involving a third student at River Hill High School, the state's attorney's office said yesterday. Alan Meade Beier, a 52-year-old chemistry and physics teacher at the Clarksville school, was charged by the grand jury with sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree assault involving a boy younger than 18. The charges come a month after Beier was arrested and charged with sexual misconduct in separate incidents involving two other students.

This whole scandal over Herman Cain's alleged sexual harassment of women during the 1990s is driving me crazy because the media is insisting on covering this story instead of properly vetting the candidates. Mr. Cain recently was on C-span to debate Gingrich, and it was clear he doesn't know much about government. The guy had to let Newt go first on every question because it was clear he had no clue what they were talking about. Yet the media puts a spotlight on Mr. Cain's alleged sexual misconduct instead.

A Baltimore County psychiatrist who admitted to having a sexual relationship with a patient has agreed to surrender his license -- the second Maryland psychiatrist in a month to give up his practice amid allegations of sexual misconduct.In an agreement that was made public yesterday, Dr. Philip D. Walls surrendered his license on Feb. 12 to the state Board of Physician Quality Assurance. He admitted he had a five-month sexual relationship with a female patient who last fall complained to the board about the affair.

WASHINGTON -- A 3-year-old inquiry into allegations of sexual and official misconduct against Sen. Bob Packwood, simmeringin the background as the Oregon Republican rose to new prominence in the GOP-led Congress, has finally boiled over.The Senate Ethics Committee announced yesterday that it will launch a formal investigation of charges leveled against Mr. Packwood by more than a dozen women. The inquiry could include public hearings and could result in a range of sanctions against him, including expulsion from the Senate.

Two Annapolis firefighters have been disciplined as a result of an ongoing city investigation into an alleged "pattern of sexual misconduct" among police and fire employees, city officials confirmed yesterday.City Attorney Jonathan Hodgson said the latest of the alleged incidents involving firefighters occurred no more recently than 1985 or 1986.But he refused to elaborate on the alleged misconduct, how often it occurred or the disciplinary action against the employees.The two male firefighters, whom city officials refused to identify, were disciplined within the past three months for actions "of a sexual nature" with women at an Annapolis fire station, the city attorney said.

A county police civilian station attendant was fired and an evidence technician resigned after complaints of sexual misconduct were lodged against them last month, police sources said.According to the sources, the evidence technician made a comment about a job applicant's underwear as he fingerprinted her. After being charged administratively with conduct unbecoming a police employee, he resigned from his position May 25, the sources said.In the second incident, a civilian station attendant also was charged administratively with conduct unbecoming an employee after a female officer complained of his sexual advances, police sources said.

Former Annapolis Mayor Dennis M. Callahan charged yesterday that thecity administration's investigation into alleged sexual misconduct among public safety workers "raises more questions than it answers" and unfairly has blemished the police department's reputation."

A pink slip given to an Annapolis firefighter indicates that his lack of cooperation with investigators weighed more heavily in his termination than his alleged involvement in sexual misconduct.The firefighter's attorney said the city failed to produce specific evidence of any wrongdoing.Twenty-four-year veteran Lt. Kenneth Rowe's pink slip was made public yesterday as part of a motion filed in Circuit Court to delay his termination.The pink slip delivered Nov. 1 from Fire Chief Edward Sherlock cites Rowe's engagement in "prohibited sexual conduct" and "failure to answer these questions truthfully" as the reasons for his termination.

The report by Politico over the weekend revealing that GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain was accused by two women of sexual harassment while he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the mid-1990s has led to swift condemnation -- not of anything Mr. Cain may have done but of the media's appetite for such stories. Some conservative defenders of Mr. Cain, who is at or near the top in most polls of Republican voters, have compared the story to what Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas referred to as the “high-tech lynching” he received at his confirmation hearings when he was confronted with allegations of sexual harassment.

Rabbi Jacob A. Max, founder of Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation, died Tuesday morning, said the synagogue's current head, Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro. He was 87. For more than half a century, Max was a dominant figure in Baltimore's Jewish community. In 2009, Max was convicted of sexually molesting a woman half his age in a Reisterstown funeral home. Max was found guilty of second-degree assault and a fourth-degree sex offense after a brief bench trial in Baltimore County District Court.

Advocates for victims of clergy abuse called Thursday for an investigation into its allegations that the Roman Catholic church purposely funneled problem priests into the chaplain corps of the U.S. military. Meeting with reporters outside the downtown headquarters of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called for congressional hearings to determine "how frequently and why Catholic officials dumped predator priests on military bases.

The three candidates vying for Anne Arundel County executive faced off in a televised debate Tuesday night, sparring over the county's projected budget deficit, the planned slots casino at Arundel Mills mall, and misconduct and ethics issues. Republican County Executive John R. Leopold debated Joanna L. Conti, a Democratic candidate and Annapolis business executive, and Michael Shay, an environmental activist and Green Party candidate, during the 90-minute session at Anne Arundel Community College.

For years, basketball and football have been characterized as sports played by "thugs" or "gangsters." The prevalence of tattoos, legal troubles and a general "in your face" attitude of the players have become symbols of what is wrong with sports today. Surprisingly, it looks like basketball and football have a new partner in this dubious category: men's lacrosse. Lacrosse's image has suffered greatly in recent years after a string of alcohol- and sex-related incidents both at the high school and college level, culminating Monday with the tragic death of Yeardley Love of Cockeysville, a senior on the University of Virginia women's lacrosse team.

News item: The Orioles just went winless on their first homestand of a 2010 season that supposedly will be judged by upper management on wins and losses. My take: Well, at this rate, it probably won't be a particularly difficult evaluation process, but there are 151 games left. Might want to give it another week or so. News item: The Orioles' $12 million closer, Mike Gonzalez, just went on the disabled list with a sore left shoulder after insisting all spring that he was fine.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has removed a Laurel priest from the ministry while it investigates allegations against him of sexual misconduct during the 1980s, the archdiocese said on Sunday. The Rev. John Wielebski, 62, pastor at Resurrection of Our Lord Church, has denied all of the allegations, the archdiocese said. The archdiocese revoked his authority to function as a priest in December. The misconduct is alleged to have occurred while Wielebski was at St. Dominic Church in Baltimore, where he was assigned from 1985 to 1988, and Monsignor Clare J. O'Dwyer Retreat House in Sparks, where he was assigned from 1988 to 1991.