Academy double standard on sex dismissals? By EARL KELLY, Staff Writer The Naval Academy has a double standard when it comes to punishing midshipmen who have sex with each other, according to a male mid who was kicked out of the school Friday. The mid, a member of the school's crew team, was dismissed from the school for having consensual sex with a classmate during a training exercise in July.
The midshipman said he had sex with her, and three other female midshipmen who were witnesses in the case, engaged in identical or similar sexual misconduct but were not punished, the midshipman said.
Instead, they were counseled about avoiding situations that led to sexual harassment and misconduct, he said.
"In an effort to make things equal or better for women, the academy has decided to let what females do go untouched," the male midshipman said in an interview with The Capital. He asked that his name not be used in the article.
The midshipman described the relationship between him and his classmate as a "kind of a summer fling" that lasted "a week and a half."
"They (the academy) decided to press it under sexual misconduct," he said.
Redacted case documents obtained by The Capital do not reveal the parties' names.
Academy officials have ordered the midshipman not to mention the women by name, and he asked that his name be kept confidential for now.
As of yesterday, he remained at the academy, awaiting out-processing.
He said he would like to stay at the academy, and is considering appealing his case to the Secretary of the Navy.
"But once the superintendent makes a determination, it is pretty much final," the midshipman said.
Citing privacy concerns, a Naval Academy spokesman declined to discuss the case yesterday.
"If the midshipman authorizes us to release (information), we will be glad to reconsider what we can release," said Cmdr. Rod Gibbons.
While emphasizing that he was not commenting on this or any other specific case, Cmdr. Gibbons went on to say that the Naval Academy "endeavors to maintain a professional culture that fosters dignity and respect, while also encouraging personal responsibility and accountability."
"The highest standards and highest expectations apply equally and fairly to each and every midshipman in the Brigade," Cmdr. Gibbons said.
When asked, Cmdr. Gibbons said data was not available to show how many midshipmen, either cumulatively or by gender, had been discharged in the past two years for sexual harassment, assault and misconduct.
This morning, several members of the academy Board of Visitors praised Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt and Capt. Bruce Grooms for improving the conditions for women at the academy.
Retired Marine Corps. Gen. Charles C. Krulak, a member of the board, said he has seen the injuries suffered by women on the battlefield and that sacrifice made the changes at the academy even more important.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski also praised the academy's leadership for "upgrading" the environment for women.
"This is where, I think, there has been marked improvement," she said.
The case of the male midshipman who alleges inequity of punishment started in July when he was an 18-year-old freshman.
He admitted to Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigators that he had consensual sex with a female classmate over a period of about 10 days while on a training exercise in Norfolk, Va., according to documents in the case.
All sex acts took place in a hotel room or in a car at the Norfolk Navy Yard, according to case documents.
The male also has admitted to engaging in underage drinking with the women during this same time period, but the women allegedly told investigators that they never consumed alcohol.
"I went to NCIS in August and never heard from them again," the midshipman said. "The NCIS report I saw said there was no point at which she (the female mid) was a victim. But the academy picked it up from there ... They decided to press it under sexual misconduct."
"From mid-August to Dec. 5, I heard not a word about it," he said, until the academy's conduct officer notified him that he was in serious trouble.
"In early December I got an e-mail saying I had been 'fried' for a major conduct violation," the mid said.
The hearings
There followed a series of administrative hearings before the deputy commandant and the commandant. The academy had an attorney at both hearings. While midshipmen may consult legal counsel before the hearing, they may not have a lawyer present during a hearing, an academy spokesman said.
"The deputy commandant had a JAG officer with him who was whispering things to him," the midshipman said of his first hearing. "I on the other hand was standing on the opposite side of the table at attention, staring out the window while they talked."
The next hearing was before the academy's commandant, and it was similar.
The male midshipman is a member of the academy's crew team and, according to case documents, the team's coach and officer representative testified on the midshipman's behalf, noting that he has never been a discipline problem.
The midshipman appeared before Adm. Rempt for about half an hour on Monday.
"Friday morning, I am in my room studying for a test and I get word I need to go see the deputy commandant," the midshipman said of his dismissal.
Sexual activity
While one female midshipman allegedly had sex with the male midshipman in this case, two others, who became witnesses in the case, allegedly engaged in sexual acts in a hotel room with NROTC midshipmen who were there training with the crew of the USS Leyte Gulf, the midshipman wrote in one memo.
A fourth woman mid who was a witness allegedly spent the night with a commissioned officer, according to the memo, an act which would have violated the military rule against fraternization.
"On the night of 09 July 2005, (female) MIDN 2 not only engaged in sexual intercourse (on the floor of a hotel room), but did so fully aware that currently present in the room were 4 other MIDN who were awake at the time," the midshipman wrote.
"(Female) MIDN 3 bragged about her previous sexual experiences with another MIDN at the academy. She ... bragged about how she had a Dole (banana) sticker in her cover (hat) for the numerous times she had had sexual intercourse on the yard."
This female allegedly boasted about "having had sexual intercourse in the different classrooms in Luce Hall."
When the male midshipman boasted of having sex with his classmate, one of the other women reported him for making her feel uncomfortable, the male said.
Three of the four women are in the same company, the male said, and two of them room together.
The climate
This case comes soon after the Naval Academy brought charges of sexual harassment against Navy. Lt. Bryan Black, an instructor at the school.
Lt. Black used vulgar and sexually explicit language in a female midshipman's presence while on a training mission in Norfolk between Aug. 4 and 12, according to court documents.
He apologized shortly afterward, and he and the midshipman thought the incident was over.
On Sept. 22, Lt. Black received notice that Adm. Rempt planned to impose administrative punishment on him.
Lt. Black exercised his right to demand a court martial, and he is awaiting trial on a charge of conduct unbecoming an officer. The Marine judge in the case has ruled that the female midshipman may not be referred to as "the victim" during trial.
The academy's starting quarterback, senior Lamar S. Owens Jr., 22, was charged Feb. 21 with rape, indecent assault and conduct unbecoming an officer for an incident in January in the academy's dormitory, Bancroft Hall. Sexual activity in Bancroft Hall is forbidden under academy rules.
In an unrelated case, another football player is being investigated for alleged sexual assault of a female midshipman in Washington, D.C., in what sources say was consensual sexual activity.
A federal task force released a report in August stating that the Naval Academy and the Military Academy at West Point were hostile environments for women, who often faced sexual harassment and abuse.
Published March 06, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Copyright � 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
What they oughta do is simply ban all romantic/sexual relationship between mids. Automatic 6000 series offense, regardless of who was senior. And if a female is going to claim she was "pressured", that's no excuse unless it was forcible rape. Either report it immediately, or suffer the same consequences as the more senior.
That'll end the double standard, and most of the problems.