HIV positive Navy Catholic priest court-martialed

By M&C US News Dec 5, 2007, 18:03 GMT

An HIV-positive Navy chaplain and Catholic priest who allegedly had consensual and non-consensual sex with other military men without alerting anyone of his disease will face a court-martial, military officials said Tuesday.

The Navy Times reports the court-martial of Lt. Cmdr. John Thomas Matthew Lee, 42, will begin on Thursday at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.

The Archdiocese of Washington, where Lee was ordained in 1993, received allegations of sexual misconduct in June and subsequently “removed his faculties to perform Mass,” said Susan Gibbs, a diocesan spokeswoman.

Lee was relieved of his military duties in June, though military officials would not disclose his current duty status or unit.

Lee is now a patient at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md.

The five charges Lee is facing include allegations of sodomy, aggravated assault, indecent assault, fraternization and conduct unbecoming a military officer, according to a statement issued by the Marine Corps officials Tuesday night.

The Marine Corps did not offer any details regarding the victims in the case. Sources said the sexual partners in question are all men.

According to the Navy Times sources, "Lee has tested positive for HIV, which could explain the aggravated assault charges. In cases dating back to 1987, military prosecutors have brought criminal charges for HIV-positive troops who have unprotected sex and fail to inform their partners. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in 1991 approved the use of the aggravated assault charge in such cases."

Lee was chaplain at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., from 2003 to 2006, and then he was transferred to Quantico, according to military records.

Records reveal that from April 2001 to September 2003, Lee was stationed in Gaeta, Italy, with Naval Forces Europe, 6th Fleet Detachment, and on the guided-missile cruiser Port Royal from 1998 to 2001, records show.

Lee grew up near Philadelphia and graduated from the seminary St. Charles Borromeo in Wynnewood, Pa.

The Navy Times reports that more than 25 priests working in the military diocese have faced allegations of sexual misconduct in the past 30 years.

“We believe that the problem may be worse in the military than in other dioceses,” said David Clohessy to the Navy Times, the national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a victim’s advocacy group.

“For a sex offender priest, the military is very attractive because of the transience of military families and the even greater authority and trust that comes with having two titles — both a priest and an officer,” Clohessy said.