Military adds sex charges against Muslim chaplain

The military yesterday filed charges of adultery and pornography against Army Capt. James Yee, a Muslim chaplain, and released him after 77 days in a Navy brig.

Capt. Yee was charged last month with two counts of unlawful transportation of classified information while a chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, where about 660 al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are being held, and has been reassigned to the chaplain’s office at Fort Benning, Ga.

The officer will have an Article 32 hearing, an investigative proceeding, on Monday at Fort Benning, where the appointed hearing officer, Col. Daniel Trimble, is stationed.

U.S. Southern Command said Capt. Yee faces four new charges: two counts of using a government computer to store pornographic material, one charge of giving a false statement pertaining to the release of CDs to detainees, and the adultery charge. That count states that Capt. Yee, who is married and has a 3-year-old daughter, had sexual relations with a woman at the base, and in Orlando, Fla. The public charge document censored the woman’s name.

Military sources say the officer was apprehended in September as he got off a plane in Jacksonville, Fla., to begin leave from Guantanamo. In his possession were secret lists of detainees and drawings of the prison. The military considers such material as classified materials that could harm the United States if they fell into enemy hands.

The military has suspected Capt. Yee, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., of espionage, but has not filed such charges.

Eugene Fidell, Capt. Yee’s civilian attorney, said he believes the suspect will be able to travel freely on and off Fort Benning. “He’s apparently not being restrained in any way,” Mr. Fidell said.

“I think the release is a very welcome development,” he said.

Referring to the adultery and pornography charges, the lawyer said, “I’m fascinated by the evolution, a case that began as a triumph in the war on terrorism.”

Adultery is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to which the act disrupts good order and discipline. The military normally brings the charge only in conjunction with other offenses.

At Guantanamo Bay, Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller told reporters yesterday that he knew Capt. Yee personally and was “surprised” by the charges against him.

“We’re an organization that deals on trust and honor, so when those kinds of things happen, you’re surprised,” said Gen. Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo. “Capt. Yee is innocent until proven guilty,” he said, adding that the Article 32 proceedings at Fort Benning would be open-door.

Capt. Yee is one of three Muslims charged in security breaches at the maximum-security prison.

His release comes a day after Mr. Fidell sent a letter to President Bush requesting his client’s release. A spokesman for Southern Command, which oversees the Guantanamo base, said the decision to release Capt. Yee was made well in advance of the petition.

Story Continues →