ARMY'S TOP SERGEANT CHARGED IN SEX CASE.Byline: Eric Schmitt The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times The Army on Wednesday charged its highest-ranking enlisted soldier with sexual misconduct sexual misconduct Professional ethics Any behavior that violates a health professional's ethics through sexual contact of physician and his/her Pt. See Professional boundaries. and indecent assault indecent assault n. Sexual assualt. indecent assault Noun a sexual attack which does not include rape indecent assault n (BRIT) → involving four servicewomen over nearly three years. The soldier, Gene McKinney, the sergeant major of the Army, strongly denied the accusations. ``I am not answering to any of these charges because I have not done anything that I have been charged with,'' McKinney said in a brief news conference at his lawyer's office in nearby Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Wilhemina, by his side. ``I am still a soldier, a sergeant, and I still believe in human rights, dignity and respect for people,'' he added in his first public remarks on allegations that were initially made three months ago. He did not respond to questions from reporters. The 46-year-old sergeant major of the Army was suspended from his duties in February after a retired sergeant major, Brenda Hoster, said he asked her for sex, grabbed her and kissed her in a hotel room in Hawaii during a business trip in April 1996 when she was his public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. specialist. After she went public with her charges, three other women made accusations of their own to Army investigators. As a result of Hoster's accusations, McKinney, a 29-year decorated veteran, stepped down from a senior Army panel reviewing the service's policies against sexual harassment sexual harassment, in law, verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, aimed at a particular person or group of people, especially in the workplace or in academic or other institutional settings, that is actionable, as in tort or under equal-opportunity statutes. . Hoster, 39, is one of four unnamed women cited in a summary of allegations against McKinney that result from a three-month Army criminal inquiry. The charges involve three enlisted women in the Army and one in the Navy for incidents that occurred from October 1994 to March. All of the women except Hoster are still on active duty. The Army's accusations against McKinney, which come one day after an Army drill sergeant (Mil.) a noncommissioned officer whose office it is to instruct soldiers as to their duties, and to train them to military exercises and evolutions. (Mil.) See under Drill. See also: Drill Sergeant was sentenced to 25 years in prison for raping six of his trainees, amount to the most serious sexual-misconduct charges made against someone in the Army's senior ranks. The sergeant major of the Army is the top adviser on all matters relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc the Army's 410,000 enlisted soldiers. The charges announced Wednesday include four counts of indecent assault, two counts of assault, one count of adultery, two counts of communicating a threat, two counts of obstruction of justice A criminal offense that involves interference, through words or actions, with the proper operations of a court or officers of the court. The integrity of the judicial system depends on the participants' acting honestly and without fear of reprisals. , three counts of solicitation of adultery and four counts of maltreatment maltreatment Social medicine Any of a number of types of unreasonable interactions with another adult. See Child maltreatment, Cf Child abuse. of soldiers, the Army said. Maltreatment is defined by military law as ``cruelty, oppression or maltreatment not necessarily physical, but must be measured by an objective standard.'' Assault, improper punishment and sexual harassment fall under this category. Besides Hoster, who has given several interviews, only sketchy details are known about the other three accusers, who have not made public statements. Army officials emphasized that the step taken Wednesday is the first in a process that could lead to a number of options, ranging from a court-martial to dismissal of all charges. If convicted on all charges, military law experts said, McKinney could face more than 40 years in prison. |
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