Military and archdiocese officials say Catholic chaplain Lt. Cmdr. John Thomas Matthew Lee did not show prior signs of misconduct before allegations surfaced that he forced himself on a Naval Academy midshipmen.
Lee “was a priest in good standing until he informed the Archdiocese [of the Military Service] of allegations made against him,” said Julia Rota, archdiocese spokeswoman.
Lee was sentenced to 12 years ? all but two were suspended ? in prison at a court martial Thursday at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va. for forcible sodomy and aggravated assault.
The aggravated assault charge comes from Lee being HIV-positive and not informing the men he had sex with, which include an Air Force colonel.
Quantico spokesman First Lt. Brian Donnelly said no accusations against Lee existed prior to the June investigation of the former Naval Academy chaplain between 2003 and 2006.
Edwin O?Brien, the Archbishop of Baltimore who was head of the military archdiocese at the time of the investigation, said Lee was relieved of his chaplain duties June 22, the day he learned of the allegations from Lee.
That same day, the Washington Archdiocese, where Lee was ordained in 1993, also removed Lee as a priest.
O?Brien said he was not aware of the nature of the allegations when notified because of privacy policies.
“Reading about his actions through media reports of the military proceedings, I find Chaplain Lee?s behavior reprehensible and disgraceful,” O?Brien said in a written statement.
It was unclear Friday who is responsible for notifying the military archdiocese of sexual investigations.
The Archdiocese of Military Service said the chaplain is morally responsible for reporting investigations. The Marine Corps said it is up to the Navy Chief of Chaplains to report investigations to the archdiocese.
Lee is required to provide Navy officials with the names and contact information of men he had sex with, so they may be notified by Lee?s condition.
Naval Academy spokeswoman Deb Goode said the academy is not commenting on the case, and that notifying midshipmen who had sexual contact with Lee is in hands of legal and medical officials.
Marine Corps officials said after Thursday?s hearing that nobody is known to have actually contracted HIV from Lee.
Lee?s court martial comes on the heels of a Navy physician convicted for taping midshipmen having sex in his house and a Navy quarterback facing allegations of rape.
“This isn?t a scandal academy-wide,” said Ward Carroll, a graduate and former academy professor. “This was just one warped individual. This story is a reminder that people in position of authority at the academy are given a trust and confidence that is very easy to break. And when they do, it is tragic.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
