Sex Addict Denied Clearance Eligibility

It is not often you see someone denied security clearance eligibility for being a sex addict, but a recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals case involved exactly that. The DoD CAF issued this defense contractor a Statement of Reasons (SOR) outlining specific concerns regarding sexual misconduct and personal conduct. The contractor requested a hearing and appeared in person. Here are the highlights of the case:

The defense contractor, now married for the third time, was discharged from the military under an Other Than Honorable type discharge after being convicted of maltreatment of a subordinate (sexually). He admitted to the SOR charge of being a sex addict and engaging in high-risk sexual behavior from 2008 to 2017. This behavior included seeking out women and couples on a weekly basis, including sometimes in public. He was also married at the time. A certified addictions therapist evaluated him in October 2021 and concluded the contractor had been trying to replicate the adrenaline rush he had felt during military deployments and anxiety suffered while serving as a recruiter. The therapist was of the opinion he was now in a prolonged state of recovery.

During the hearing the judge asked the contractor a series of direct questions about his sexual activity which he refused to provide an answer to and seemed evasive. Based on the adjudicative guidelines the judge used mitigating factors for the sexual behavior and ruled in favor of the contractor. However, because he refused to cooperate in answering the judge’s questions, the personal conduct (lack of candor) concerns were not mitigated, and he was denied clearance eligibility. You can read the entire case summary here.