Army adds charges against Guantanamo chaplain
Allegations include adultery, making false statements
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James Yee
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(CNN) -- The Army charged a chaplain who worked with detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base with four additional counts, including adultery, making false statements and using a government computer to view and store pornography, the U.S. Southern Command said Tuesday.
Army Capt. James Yee was charged with two counts of failing to obey a lawful general order on October 10. (Full story) He was taken into custody September 10 when he returned to the United States from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and was held at the naval brig at Charleston, South Carolina.
Yee initially had been held on suspicion of espionage and of aiding the enemy, but the two counts of failing to obey orders were the only formal charges military officials initially brought against him.
Habeus corpus rights -- the right to have charges brought against an accused person -- are guaranteed for U.S. citizens in the U.S. Constitution.
Yee served temporarily as chaplain at Guantanamo, where he worked with suspected Taliban and al Qaeda detainees.
He was recently released from the brig and transferred to Fort Benning in Georgia.
"Yee will report to the Fort Benning chief chaplain where he will perform duties commensurate to his rank," said a statement from the U.S. Southern Command.
The four new charges against him include adultery, conduct unbecoming an officer, making a false official statement and failure to obey an order or regulation, the statement said.
The latter two charges stem from allegations that Yee viewed and stored pornography on a government computer, which is a violation of military regulations, according to the charge sheet outlining the allegations against him.
Military officials have said Yee allegedly took classified material to his home and wrongfully transported classified material without the proper security containers or covers.
Ahmed Mehalba, a civilian translator who worked at Guantanamo, was arrested at Boston's Logan International Airport in September after U.S. Immigration officials found him carrying CD-ROMs and paper documents that are allegedly related to the detainees at Guantanamo.
Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad al Halabi -- who also worked at the U.S. Navy base -- was arrested in September and charged with espionage and aiding the enemy. (Full story)
