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Repeated Touching Allegations Aboard USNS Mercy Ended With a Guilty Plea to Sexual Harassment at NJP.

A person aboard USNS Mercy reported five incidents of breast or buttocks touching and another incident involving a hard hug and chin-grabbing. The accused denied inappropriate touching, but later entered a pre-trial agreement, pleaded guilty at non-judicial punishment to sexual harassment, and received rank, pay, restriction, and separation-related penalties.

Abusive Sexual ContactSexual HarassmentUSNS MercyNavy PersonnelNon-Judicial PunishmentAdministrative Separation

This page summarizes one Naval Criminal Investigative Service case file. The source PDF and optical character recognition transcript appear below so readers can compare the summary against the record.

Allegation

Abusive Sexual Contact

Location

USNS Mercy

Key date

Reported August 16, 2015

Outcome

Sexual-Harassment Guilty Plea At NJP

What the NCIS File Says

A person aboard USNS Mercy reported multiple incidents involving unwanted touching: five separate incidents in which the accused touched her breast or buttocks, and another incident in which he hugged her very hard and grabbed her chin.

NCISRA Singapore received the report from a USNS Mercy JAG and interviewed the reporting person the next day. NCISRA San Diego later assumed case control.

The accused denied inappropriate touching during interrogation. The case then moved through the command discipline system under a pre-trial agreement.

At non-judicial punishment, the accused pleaded guilty to sexual harassment. The recorded punishment was reduction in rank to E-5, forfeiture of $3,166, fourteen days of restriction, and administrative-separation processing.

Case Timeline

August 16, 2015

NCISRA Singapore received notification from a USNS Mercy JAG about multiple abusive-sexual-contact allegations.

August 17, 2015

NCISRA Singapore interviewed the reporting person.

October 1, 2015

NCISRA San Diego assumed case control.

January 9, 2016

The Staff Judge Advocate provided NCIS with the Sexual Assault Disposition Report.

January 16, 2017

NCIS briefed legal and victim counsel personnel and closed the case.

Why This Record Matters

The file records repeated alleged sexual touching aboard a hospital ship.
The final outcome was a sexual-harassment plea at NJP, not a criminal conviction for each alleged touching.
The closure report references many missing interim reports and exhibits, so the extracted file is not the full investigation.

NCIS Source Document

This is the NCIS Report of Investigation for the USNS Mercy file. MLAA has preserved the source PDF, Bates range, and NCIS file number so readers can inspect the record directly.

First page preview for Repeated Touching Allegations Aboard USNS Mercy Ended With a Guilty Plea to Sexual Harassment at NJP.

First page of the NCIS case file.

Source type: NCIS investigation file
Command or vessel: USNS MERCY (T-AH 19) /21636
NCIS file number: 18AUG15-SNSN-00171-8SNA/C
Bates range: 0169-0170
Source file length: 2 pages

View NCIS Source PDF for Case 18AUG15-SNSN-00171-8SNA/C

Readable OCR Transcript

The transcript below reproduces the substantive report text from the NCIS file in readable form, including the executive summary when one appears in the source. Paragraph numbers come from the original report. Redactions are shown as [REDACTED]. Because the text was generated from OCR, verify exact quotations against the source PDF.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. On 16Aug15, NCISRA Singapore received notification from [REDACTED], JAGC, USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), regarding multiple allegations of abusive sexual contact on [REDACTED] 17Aug15 [REDACTED] interviewed by NCISRA Singapore and reported the following details [REDACTED] identified five separate incidents where [REDACTED] y touched her breast and/or buttocks, and one incident where [REDACTED] hugged her very hard and grabbed her chin. On 01Oct15, NCISRA San Diego, CA, assumed case control [REDACTED] interrogated and denied ever inappropriately touching [REDACTED] agreed to a Pre-trial Agreement (PTA) and entered a plea of Guilty during his Non-judicial Punishment (NJP) hearing for sexual harassment. On 09Jan16, [REDACTED] JAGC, USN, Staff Judge Advocate, Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), provided NCIS with the Sexual Assault Disposition Report (SADR) pertaining to [REDACTED] According to the SADR, § [REDACTED] awarded reduction in rank to E-5, forfeiture of pay totaling $3,166.00, 14 days of restriction, and was processed for administrative separation. This investigation is closed.

NARRATIVE

1. This reactive investigation was initiated pursuant to suspected violations of Article 120 (Abusive Sexual Contact) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

2. On 09Jan16, [REDACTED] JAGC, USN, Staff Judge Advocate, Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), provided NCIS with the Sexual Assault Disposition Report (SADR) pertaining to [REDACTED] According to the SADR, pursuant to a Pre-trial Agreement (PTA), [REDACTED] pleaded guilty during Non-judicial Punishment (NJP) for sexual harassment [REDACTED] awarded reduction in rank to E-5, forfeiture of pay totaling $3,166.00, 14 days of restriction, and was processed for administrative separation. Exhibit (22) pertains.

3. On 16Jan17, MILDER, [REDACTED] JAGC, USN, Senior Trial Counsel, Region Legal Service Office (RLSO) Southwest, and. [REDACTED] Victim's Legal Counsel (VLC), were briefed on the status of this investigation. A R-84 Final Disposition Report was not completed as no probable cause was established to submit fingerprint cards. This investigation is closed.