Honored Navy chaplain faces multiple sexual-offense counts

NORFOLK

A chaplain who won awards for ministering to wounded troops and who escorted President Bush around the Navy's flagship hospital could be court-martialed on a range of charges, including multiple counts of adultery and fraternization.

Navy lawyers laid out their case against Lt. Shane R. Dillman in an Article 32 hearing, similar to a preliminary hearing in civilian court, Thursday and Friday at Norfolk Naval Station.

Prosecutors painted Dillman as an officer who repeatedly manipulated young enlisted women, abused his position of trust, and solicited vulnerable sailors for dates and sex.

The defense presented a far different picture: a professional, caring chaplain who went out of his way to help troubled sailors and who won honors for his work with wounded combat vets.

Charles Gittins, Dillman's civilian defense lawyer, said that charges of rape and using the threat of physical injury to solicit sex should be dropped, because the acts were consensual.

He downplayed allegations of fraternization and adultery.

"Manipulation of a woman to sexual intercourse because you're a good conversationalist is not a crime," Gittins said in his closing statement. "It happens every day."

Four junior enlisted women testified about their relationships with Dillman, a Pentecostal minister who is married with children and lives in Williamsburg.

Three of the women served with Dillman on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which is being refueled at Northrop Grumman Newport News.

The fourth, a petty officer third class, testified by phone from Iraq, where she is serving as a hospital corpsman.

The sailor, now 23, said she met Dillman through a group Bible study at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, in late 2005. She said she and the chaplain - who was 35 when he was formally charged in January - became close friends, then developed a romantic relationship.

Under questioning, she said she and Dillman would meet in an empty office, lock the door and have sex.

Lt. Allison Ward, a prosecutor, asked her why the couple locked the door.

"We knew we were doing something we weren't supposed to do," she said.

She testified that their relationship continued after they returned from Kuwait, when both worked at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Dillman's work with sailors and Marines wounded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan earned him junior officer of the year honors at the hospital.

His boss, retired Navy Capt. Nathaniel Milton, said Dillman was specifically requested, by a Marine liaison, to accompany President Bush as he met injured troops at Bethesda in 2004.

"There was no doubt from people he encountered that Chaplain Dillman cared," Milton said.

In May 2007, Dillman was honored with a distinguished service award from the Military Chaplains Association.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rian Phelps, assigned to the Vinson, testified that she met Dillman at her daughter's funeral last year and started visiting him for counseling last June.

She said she and Dillman did not have a romantic relationship, but he loaned her money multiple times, gave her a necklace, and once greeted her in his office wearing only boxer shorts.

Gittins noted that the chaplain repeatedly helped Phelps and asked for nothing in return.

In unsworn testimony, Dillman told the court that he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was on medication that makes him dizzy and impotent.

His wife, Danelle Dillman, said the accusations against her husband are "absolutely" false. She did not attend Friday's hearing.

"My prayers are that the truth and lies will be exposed, and that God will be glorified through the whole thing," she said.

As the Vinson's community-relations coordinator, Dillman set up a mentorship program last year with Hines and Gildersleeve middle schools in Newport News. The ship's sailors make regular visits to mentor and tutor the students, but the schools' principals said they did not think Dillman was one of the regular visitors. The schools had not been informed of the charges against Dillman, they said.

Visitors are never left alone with students, but they are monitored by a teacher or other school official, said Michelle Price, spokeswoman for Newport News Public Schools. She said the charges will probably not affect the program.

Dillman was relieved of his duties on the Vinson in January, when charges were brought against him. He has been temporarily assigned to a shore job that does not involve leading services or pastoral counseling.

Cmdr. Stephen Jamrozy, the investigating officer, will recommend whether the charges should proceed. If so, he also will recommend whether it be handled in a court-martial or as an administrative matter. Ultimately, the next step will be determined by the commander of the Naval Air Force, Atlantic.

Even if Dillman is cleared of all charges, his job could be in jeopardy. He was endorsed by the Coalition of Spirit-filled Churches in Newport News, which credentials Pentecostal, Renewal and Charismatic ministers for service as military and civilian chaplains.

As of Friday afternoon, Dillman had not notified the coalition of the charges against him, said David Plummer, the group's executive director and endorsing executive. That violates a statement Dillman signed promising to notify the coalition within 72 hours if he is "ever charged with, accused of, investigated for, moved because of, or transferred to another position because of any sexual, criminal or ethical misconduct."

If Dillman knew about the charges and failed to report them, then "his endorsement is in grave danger," Plummer said.

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com

Kathy Adams, (757) 446-2583, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com