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  Chaplain Faces Court-Martial for Sodomy, Assault

By Jonathan M. Katz
Associated Press, carried in Army Times [Springfield VA]
Downloaded September 8, 2005

The Army will court-martial a chaplain accused of forcible sodomy and assault.

Capt. Gregory Arflack, a Roman Catholic chaplain with the 279th Base Support Battalion, was arraigned Wednesday, said Maj. Bill Coppernoll, a 1st Infantry Division spokesman. Arflack deferred entering a plea.

Last week, he waived his right to an Article 32 hearing — the military equivalent of a grand jury.

A court-martial date will be set on Sept. 21.

Arflack, 44, was charged in August with three counts each of forcible sodomy and indecent acts, two counts each of fraternization with enlisted service members and disobeying orders, and one count each of indecent assault and conduct unbecoming an officer.

The Army would not discuss specifics about the case Wednesday, including details about the age and military status of the alleged victims. The incidents are alleged to have occurred while Arflack was stationed in Doha, Qatar, in March 2004 and in Bamberg on July 29 and 30 of this year.

There have been four cases of sexual misconduct among Army chaplains since the early 1980s, said Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman. Three of the four ended in court-martial convictions, she said.

Arflack works under the jurisdiction of the Owensboro, Ky., diocese, where he served his first two assignments as a priest in Paducah and Bowling Green from 1998 to 2002. Like all Roman Catholic chaplains, he is considered to be on loan to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, which serves Catholics in the military, government service and Veterans Affairs hospitals. Both dioceses have suspended Arflack.

The 279th Base Support Battalion, which Arflack has been stationed with since January 2005, performs administrative functions at its post in Bamberg, Germany, which also houses the 1st Infantry Division.

As an Army chaplain, Arflack was first stationed at Fort Knox, Ky., from June 2002 to December 2004, Fort Knox spokesman Ken Beyer said. He was deployed for much of 2004.