Calif. Chaplain Facing Misconduct Charges

By Gidget Fuentes
Navy Times
June 22, 2012

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/06/marine-navy-priest-charges-chaplain-twentynine-palms-062212w/

The Marine Corps has formally charged a Navy chaplain at the Marine Corps’ desert training base with several counts of alleged misconduct, including sexual harassment, indecent conduct, assault and fraternization, a spokesman confirmed Friday.

The chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Steven E. Hicks, is scheduled to appear July 24 at an Article 32 investigation hearing at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., said Marine Capt. Nick Mannweiler, a combat center spokesman.

Hicks, 57, is a Catholic priest assigned who arrived at Twentynine Palms in 2008. He was pulled from his religious duties after allegations surfaced and an investigation began in late February, Mannweiler said. He remains assigned to the combat center staff.

Mannweiler said he did not have information about the nature of the charges, and he said he could not provide a copy of the official charge sheet that details the allegations. The Article 32 officer will preside over the preliminary hearing and recommend whether the charges against Hicks should be sent to a court-martial, be reduced or dismissed.

Hicks’ reassignment in February left the remote desert base with only one Catholic priest for the holy season leading to Easter Sunday on April 8. The only other priest at the base was attached to a unit preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Hicks, of San Angelo, Texas, was commissioned a chaplain in the Air Force in 1993, and he served two years before transferring into the Navy in 1995, according to Navy Personnel Command records. He served with 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Naval Support Activity New Orleans, La., before joining the amphibious assault ship Peleliu in San Diego in 2003. Hicks also had assignments with the Coast Guard in Kodiak, Alaska, and Souda Bay, Greece, prior to moving to Twentynine Palms.