The U.S Secret Service has placed a senior supervisor on leave after being accused of making unwanted sexual advances on a female coworker last month.
This new allegation against Xavier Morales is the latest scandal to further stain the beat-up reputation of the security service for the president and other White House officials. The agency has been in a rocky position because of security breaches and other shameful accusations since last year.
The allegations of Morales grabbing the female agent’s arm and saying he wanted to have sex with her after a party on March 31st, as first reported by The Washington Post. It has also been reported that Morales is the woman’s boss.
A Secret Service spokesman has stated that the female agent had complained about this alleged behavior to the U.S. S.S. Officer of Professional responsibility on April 2 while S.S. Director Joseph P. Clancy had been briefed of the situation that afternoon.
That very same day, Morales had been placed on administrative leave and his security clearance suspended, said the spokesman. Morales is the manager in the security clearance division and had been lined to head the Secret Service’s field office in Louisville.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office is handling the investigation because of Morales senior rank. The Washington D.C., police sex-crimes unit is also taking part in the investigation.
Clancy said in a statement, “The Secret Service is an agency that demands that our employees conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity. These allegations as reported are very disturbing. Any threats or violence that endangers our employees in the workplace is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
The agency recently came under fire when two Secret Service agents were allegedly drunk when they drove a government vehicle near the scene of an investigation into a suspicious package near the White House on March 4.
