Latest recruiter sex case prompts Corps review

[unhappycamper]

Latest recruiter sex case prompts Corps review
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 11, 2009 18:38:21 EDT

A Marine recruiter in Utah is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl, becoming the fourth in 13 months to face similar charges.

The cases have prompted the Corps to review its screening process for recruiters and to increase the amount of ethics training at Recruiters School, said Maj. Chris Devine, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

Staff Sgt. Trevor Hooper, 26, was arraigned Tuesday in Salt Lake City, said Alicia Cook, a spokeswoman with the Salt Lake County Prosecutor’s Office. He faces one count of first-degree rape, one count of forcible sodomy and 12 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to charging documents. He has been suspended from recruiting duty and will not serve in that capacity again, said Maj. Christopher Logan, a spokesman for the Corps’ Western recruiting region.

Police began investigating Hooper, who worked at the recruiting substation in East Salt Lake City, in April after the girl’s father found a digital memory card containing images of her having sex, said Lt. Don Hutson, a spokesman for the Salt Lake County Sherriff’s Office. Authorities say Hooper and the girl met at a high school where he was recruiting. He befriended her, and they eventually decided to rent a hotel room, where the two allegedly had sex, police said.

Initially, police charged Hooper with four counts of sexual activity with a minor and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. After prosecutors reviewed the evidence, however, they filed more serious charges.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/09/marine_sexcharges_091109/