Washington, Aug 4 (ANI): As many as a dozen U.S. Secret Service agents brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Colombia, shortly before President Barack Obama arrived in the country for an April summit, according to a recent military investigation.
The report revealed new details about the conduct of the service members, which also accuses them of allowing dogs to soil bed linens in the hotel rooms, during the prostitution scandal, which has engulfed both the military and Secret Service personnel.
According to the report, conducted by the U.S. Southern Command, headed by Gen. Douglas Fraser, the problems came to light when hotel staff complained to U.S. officials that military members had female guests in their rooms after 6 a.m., which was a violation of hotel policy.
The staff also complained that dog handlers in the military group reportedly allowed their dogs to sleep in beds, soil hotel linens and also soil other public areas around the building.
"The combination of unstructured free time, the prevalence of legalized prostitution and military members' individual choices to commit misconduct were the primary causes of the bad behavior," the New York Daily News quoted the report, as stating.
However, the investigation noted that it found evidence that the interaction with prostitutes posed no risk to national security, and that no sensitive materials were compromised.
Seven Army soldiers and two Marines have received administrative punishments for what the report called misconduct consisting "almost exclusively of patronizing prostitutes and adultery", the report said.
A dozen Secret Service officers, agents and supervisors were implicated in the Colombia scandal, in which eight have been forced out of the agency, three were cleared of serious misconduct and at least two employees are fighting to get their jobs back, it added. (ANI)
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