Sexual misconduct by high ranking FBI officials addressed, but 'quietly,' report

At least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials have been made over the past five years, including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents, according to a news report Thursday.

The report by the Associated Press lists several of the alleged incidents including an assistant FBI director retiring after he was accused of drunkenly groping a female subordinate in a stairwell. 

Another allegation is that a senior Federal Bureau Investigation official was found to have sexually harassed eight employees and was forced to leave the bureau. And a high-ranking FBI agent retired after he was accused of blackmailing a young employee into sexual encounters, the wire service reports.

Each of the six accused FBI officials appears to have avoided discipline, the wire service found, and several were quietly transferred or retired, keeping their full pensions and benefits even when probes substantiated the sexual misconduct claims against them.

However, a supervisory special agent at the FBI Training Academy at the time, Charles Dick was acquitted in state court in Virginia of sexually assaulting a woman at a farewell party.

Still, federal law enforcement officials disciplined for such actions are afforded anonymity after the process is concluded, allowing them to land on their feet in the private sector or even remain in law enforcement, the report found.

At least one account of alleged sexual misconduct is given the wire service by a woman who asked to be identified in the story only by her first name, Becky.

The FBI told the Associated Press, the agency “maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual harassment” and that claims against supervisors have resulted in them being removed from their positions while cases are investigated and adjudicated.

The agency also said severe cases can result in criminal charges.

The FBI has more than 35,000 employees.

The last time the Office of Inspector General did an extensive probe of sexual misconduct within the FBI, it tallied 343 “offenses” from fiscal years 2009 to 2012, including three instances of “videotaping undressed women without consent.”

The latest claims come months after a 17th woman joined a federal lawsuit alleging systemic sexual harassment at the FBI’s training academy in Quantico, Va., the wire service also reports.