The top prosecutor in charge of sexual assault cases for the US army is under investigation and has been suspended for allegedly assaulting a lawyer working with him two years ago.
News of the investigation of Lt Col Joseph “Jay” Morse,
who supervised the army’s almost two dozen special victims prosecutors in charge of cases of sexual assault, domestic abuse and crimes against children, was first published in Stars and Stripes on Thursday. The story was confirmed to the Guardian by an army official.
According to the Stripes website, a female army lawyer alleged that Morse tried to “kiss and grope her against her will” in a hotel room while they attended a 2011 conference on sexual assault. To date, no charges have been filed in the case, it said.
In an email, an army official told the Guardian: “We can confirm that this matter is currently under investigation and that the individual in question has been suspended from duties, pending the outcome of the investigation.
“Given that this is still an open case, we are precluded from providing any additional information at this point.”
Morse, chief of the Trial Counsel Assistance Program at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was also the lead prosecutor in the case against a soldier who pleaded guilty to killing 16 Afghan civilians, Staff Sgt Robert Bales.
It is the third time over the past 12 months in which a military official involved in the prevention or handling of sex assault cases has been accused of assault.
Last year, Lt Col Jeffrey Krusinki, the head of the air force branch of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Programme was accused of assault and battery outside an Arlington strip club. He was acquitted in a civilian court.