Citadel grad hired by State Dept. accused of sexual assaults while at military school
A man hired by the State Department was accused by 5 underclassmen at the Citadel of sexually assaulting them while he was a student there, the investigative journalism organization ProPublica reported on Wednesday.
Steven Munoz graduated from the military college of South Carolina in 2011. An investigation by The Citadel into the charges, which included testimony from the complainants and witnesses, concluded in 2014 that “certain assaults likely occurred.”
The local prosecutor declined to seek an indictment.
ProPublica obtained a previously unreported police case file about the accusations against Munoz including statements from students.
After the first student complained to school administrators that he had been assaulted, the school gave Munoz a warning, short of disciplinary action. More students came forward after Munoz graduated prompting the school to ban him from campus and referring the case to state police, ProPublica reported. Later, at Munoz’ request, the school partially rescinded the campus ban but prohibited any direct contact with cadets.
Munoz’s lawyer, Andy Savage of Charleston, told ProPublica: “I believe that certain disgruntled cadets made exaggerated claims of wrongdoing concerning Munoz’s participation in boorish behavior that was historically tacitly approved, if not encouraged, by the Institution.”
Savage said that the Citadel used Munoz as a “whipping boy in an attempt by the institution to change its shameful image,” arising from a sex assault and child abuse scandal at the The Citdel’s summer camp in the mid-2000s.
As the assistant chief of visits, Munoz will be running the State Department office responsible for organizing visits of foreign heads of state to the United States.
After graduating from The Citadel, Munoz worked for Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign.
READ THE WHOLE PROPUBLICA REPORT.
This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 11:25 PM with the headline "Citadel grad hired by State Dept. accused of sexual assaults while at military school."