Former El Toro Officer Denies Harassment : Court-martial: Navy commander pleads not guilty to formal charges of indecent acts toward sailor and civilian employee.
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CAMP PENDLETON — A former El Toro Navy officer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of sexual harassment and will face a court-martial July 10, a military spokesman said.
Cmdr. Steven C. Tolan was transferred to Camp Pendleton earlier this year after two women--a sailor and a civilian employee--filed complaints against him. Tolan is accused of indecent assault, cruelty or maltreatment of a subordinate and behavior unbecoming an officer, a spokesman said.
The formal charges were brought against Tolan at a military arraignment. An Article 32 hearing, the military’s equivalent to a grand jury proceeding, was completed in May.
The complaints were filed while Tolan was in charge of El Toro’s Aviation Physiology Training Unit, which teaches survival and emergency techniques to Marine pilots. Tolan, an aviation physiologist, was reassigned March 2 to an administrative position at the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton.
The women accused Tolan of groping them, reading aloud from sexually explicit books and writing offensive remarks with a grease pencil on the sailor’s arm.
If found guilty, Tolan could be dismissed from the Navy, fined or jailed.
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