Naval Officer Sentenced for Sex with Subordinate

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – A naval officer will spend two years in jail after acknowledging he had sex with a 19-year-old woman in his chain of command.

Lt. Jerome H. Randolph was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to conduct unbecoming an officer and making a false official statement during a court-martial at Norfolk Naval Station. Randolph also was dismissed from the Navy.

In exchange for his two guilty pleas, prosecutors withdrew a charge of aggravated sexual assault.

Randolph ran the deck department aboard the dock landing ship Gunston Hall. The incident occurred on Feb. 1 in Randolph’s stateroom aboard a temporary barge in the shipyard where the ship was undergoing repairs.

The woman testified that Randolph forced her to have sex; he claimed it was consensual.

Courtesy WTVR.com: Television, United States