The military has reportedly filed two new criminal charges Thursday against a former U.S. Naval Academy instructor who insisted he had been unfairly convicted of sexual misconduct with two female midshipmen.
Marine Maj. Mark Thompson has now been charged with one count of making a false official statement and another of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
If convicted of lying under oath, Thompson could face up to five years in prison, a dismissal from the service and a total loss of his retirement benefits, The Post reports.
The Marine Corps will hold an Article 32 preliminary hearing next month to determine whether the case should proceed to a court-martial, according to the Post.
Earlier this week, another U.S. Naval Academy instructor implicated in sexual misconduct was removed from his position, and the academy saids if it had known about a former student's sexual misconduct accusation against him, he would not have been allowed to teach.
The school confirmed Tuesday to the Associated Press that Marine Maj. Michael Pretus, a history teacher since 2014, is no longer teaching.
One student alleged Thompson assaulted her; another reported an ongoing sexual relationship. The second student also reported having sex with Thompson and Pretus, who wasn't then a teacher at the school.
The Naval Academy says Pretus was an instructor from the summer of 2014 to April 2016 and that he is "no longer in a teaching status." The academy says he has orders for reassignment with an early May departure date.
"The Naval Academy had no knowledge of any involvement in this case prior to his receipt of orders here. Under no circumstances would the Naval Academy have allowed for assignment on staff and faculty had there been disclosure of the circumstances and details of his involvement in that event," Naval Academy spokesman Cdr. John Schofield said in a statement.
The Washington Post reports Pretus declined to comment on whether he had ever had sex with one of the two students involved in Thompson's case. The paper says under military law, an officer having sex with a midshipman is a crime, as is having sex with two people at the same time, something the former student alleged she, Thompson and Pretus did.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
