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United States News Title: Sex scandal hits Patrick Air Force Base FLORIDA Sex scandal hits Patrick Air Force Base Master sergeant faces charge of arranging encounter with inspector The case so far An Air Force senior master sergeant has been charged with arranging to have a female staff sergeant have sex with an inspector who was in town to judge Patrick Air Force Base's readiness. Military documents allege he also arranged sex for at least three other married Air Force men. The senior sergeant forced the woman into some of the sex acts by telling the reservist he would keep her on active duty unless she performed, charging documents say. What's next Courts-martial dates have been set for July 10 and Aug. 1. A senior noncommissioned officer at Patrick Air Force Base has been charged with arranging for an enlisted woman at the base to have sex with several people, including one of the lead members of the team in charge of inspecting the base, according to documents released Friday by the Air Force. Senior Master Sgt. Michael Sydney arranged for an unnamed woman to have sex several times with Chief Master Sgt. Troy B. Parker of Peterson Air Force Base, according to a charge sheet against Sydney. Sydney was the top enlisted man at the 45th Security Forces Squadron and Parker was a member of the Space Command team inspecting the squadron. The woman was a reservist and staff sergeant on active duty who reported to Sydney. He allegedly threatened to prolong her stint on active duty unless she performed sexual favors. The trysts with Parker allegedly happened in or near Cocoa Beach while Parker was there as part of Patrick Air Force Base's biennial Operational Readiness Inspection. Poor showings on such inspections can hamper the careers of commanding officers and senior NCOs. The 45th Space Wing earned an "Outstanding" rating as the result of the inspection, the top possible grade. It was the second top rating in a row for the wing. Parker, who is stationed at Space Command headquarters in Colorado, was charged with dereliction of duty and impeding an investigation related to the alleged encounters. On May 12, Parker pleaded guilty to the dereliction of duty charges, and the Air Forcedropped the other charge. Parker was sentenced to a reduction in rank to senior master sergeant, 45 days of hard labor without confinement, the loss of $1,000 a month pay for three months and a reprimand. He is on active duty in the Air Force. The Air Force said the alleged incidents did not affect the outcome of the inspection. There are too many people involved in the inspection process and too many review procedures for one person to change the outcome, said Capt. Joe Macri, a spokesman for Air Force Space Command. "The (inspection) process is such that there is no way for one single person to influence the inspection. . . . There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe there was any kind of influence on the inspection process," Macri said. The charges also allege that Sydney arranged for the woman to have sex with Parker at least two other times between October 2004 and November 2005. The Air Force also charges Sydney with arranging for the woman to have sex with at least three other men. Those men's names were removed from the information released to FLORIDA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act. Patrick spokeswoman Lt. Col. Maria Carl said the other men were not part of the inspection team. According to the charge sheet released Friday, Sydney also allegedly had sex with other enlisted women subordinate to him and used a government computer to store and transmit pornographic materials. A July 10 court-martial date has been set for Sydney. Sydney is one of two Patrick men charged in the matter. In April, Capt. Philip Sting, the No. 2 officer in the security forces squadron was charged with indecency and obstruction of justice. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing and is scheduled for court-martial Aug. 1. Immediately after Sting waived his right to the preliminary hearing April 10, FLORIDA TODAY filed a public records request with the Air Force seeking information about the specific acts Sting allegedly committed. Such information typically is revealed at preliminary hearings. A heavily redacted response to the request shed little light on the charges against Sting. Air Force officials Friday said the graphic nature of the information detailed in the charge sheet played a role in the decision to withhold much of the information. But the Air Force Times, citing an uncensored charge sheet it obtained in the Sting case, posted a story on its Web site Thursday that said a female staff sergeant performed oral sex on Sting while Sydney watched. It also said that Sting was alleged to have told the woman to lie to investigators and destroy evidence. Patrick officials said the information did not come from them. Friday morning, the base responded to a separate request from FLORIDA TODAY by releasing Sydney's charge sheet. This time, the documents detailed the alleged acts, though some names were blacked-out by Air Force officials, who cited privacy concerns. Neither Sydney nor Sting has a listed telephone number. At FLORIDA TODAY's request, Patrick public affairs officials passed on the newspaper's phone number to the men if they wanted to comment for this story. Neither contacted the newspaper. Brig. Gen. Mark Owen, 45th Space Wing Commander and the official accuser in these cases, declined to make an official comment on the grounds that it would be inappropriate for him to do so during this pretrial period, Carl said. She said that "the Air Force takes allegations of misconduct by airman of all ranks very seriously, investigates those allegations fully, and takes appropriate action whenever warranted." Contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarth@flatoday.net
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