Sexual Misconduct

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.

ANNAPOLIS -- Three members of the Annapolis Fire Department were fired and four other city public safety workers were disciplined as a result of an 11-week city probe into allegations of sexual misconduct on duty.Announcing the actions yesterday, Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins said the investigation found four Fire Department employees and two police officers had "engaged in sexual relations" with "consenting females" while on duty.A seventh city employee, a Fire Department supervisor, was disciplined because he knew of the sexual misconduct but took no action, the mayor said.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is facing the gravest allegations of sexual misconduct in years, with dozens of servicewomen in the Persian Gulf area and elsewhere saying they were sexually assaulted or raped by fellow troops, lawmakers said yesterday. There have been 112 reports of sexual misconduct over roughly the past two years in the Central Command area of operations, which includes Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, military officials said yesterday. The Army has reported 86 incidents, the Navy 12, the Air Force eight and the Marine Corps six. Military officials said that the bulk of the allegations were being investigated and that some had resulted in disciplinary actions, but they could not provide specifics.

WASHINGTON -- Surprised by the seriousness of sexual misconduct charges that have erupted at an Aberdeen Proving Ground school, the Army's top uniformed officer says the chain of command there failed -- but he is uncertain how high the problem goes."

Howard County police are investigating as many as five male correctional officers at the Howard County Detention Center for alleged sexual misconduct with as many as three female inmates.County officials would not comment on details of the investigation but confirmed that police launched a probe last week after a complaint was received by jail Director James N. Rollins. It was unclear yesterday whether the complaint came from inmates or officers."There are allegations being made, and we are investigating," Raquel Sanudo, the county's administrator, said this week.

WASHINGTON -- The Army's top enlisted man should be court-martialed on 22 counts related to sexual misconduct, an Army hearing officer has recommended.Sources close to the case said yesterday that Col. Robert L. Jarvis has urged in a three-page report that Army Sgt. Maj. Gene C. McKinney be tried for indecent assault, adultery and obstruction of justice, according to people close to the case.McKinney, one of the service's most admired figures, was accused in February of misconduct that in most of the cases involved pressuring women for sex.Jarvis presided over a preliminary military hearing, which lasted more than eight weeks, to determine whether the accusations against McKinney were enough to warrant a court-martial.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary William S. Cohen denied suggestions yesterday that the Pentagon was on a "witch hunt" for sexual improprieties among senior officers, one day after the commander of Aberdeen Proving Ground decided to retire over an affair he had five years ago while separated from his wife."

The Army yesterday dropped more criminal charges against Staff Sgt. Delmar G. Simpson, further shrinking what was once a 148-count case against the Aberdeen Proving Ground drill instructor to 58 charges just days before his court-martial begins.Of the 19 counts dropped yesterday, two were rape charges that involved the same number of female soldiers. Simpson, 32, faces 19 rape allegations involving six female recruits -- down from a high of 11 women he was accused of raping when a pretrial hearing started last month.

WASHINGTON -- With sex scandals breaking out all over the military, legislation to segregate men and women in basic training is gaining momentum in the House.But Republicans are deeply divided over the issue, and most Democrats and women of both parties in the House and Senate are criticizing it as a step backward for female troops that will do nothing to stop sexual misconduct in the armed forces."It's unrealistic for us to separate men and women for a period of training only to put them together to develop working relationships and camaraderie," said Rep. Susan Molinari, a New York Republican.

TOKYO - The top U.S. military official in Okinawa apologized profusely yesterday for an incident on Monday in which a U.S. Marine allegedly entered a private residence on the southern Japanese island and sexually molested a 14-year-old girl. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Earl B. Hailston visited Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine at the prefecture government's office to make a formal apology, which included a Japanese bow of contrition. The general was accompanied by the U.S. consul-general of Okinawa, Robert Lake.