Navy revisits inquiry into hazing in canine unit in Bahrain

Top Navy officials are re-examining an inquiry into hazing in a dog handling unit in Bahrain in which an investigator verified more than 90 instances of abuse, including sailors being force-fed dog treats, locked into a kennel and ordered to simulate oral sex.

Despite those findings more than two years ago, Navy officials have not been able to say whether anyone was held accountable in the case, which came to light earlier this month.

On Tuesday, the Navy announced that Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, has directed the commander of naval installations worldwide to review what transpired after the initial investigation. Roughead wants Vice Adm. Michael C. Vitale's report by Oct. 6, according to Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon.

Roughead's order comes in addition to a recently initiated review by the head of the Navy region that oversees the base in Bahrain, as well as a congressman's request for information on what transpired at the Bahrain base's kennel in 2005 and 2006.

All the official attention was triggered by reports earlier this month that Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint, who headed the kennel at the time of the alleged abuses, has since been promoted to senior chief.

Toussaint is now assigned to Oceana Naval Air Station's Dam Neck annex. A spokesman for Naval Special Warfare told The Associated Press that Toussaint is deployed and unavailable to comment.

The documented hazing and abuse, much of it directed at Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha, eventually drove Rocha out of the Navy. Rocha said he became the target after he refused the services of a prostitute, causing some sailors at the kennel to question his sexuality. Rocha, now 23, gave up an appointment to the Naval Academy after telling a commanding officer in 2007 that he was gay and suffering from post-traumatic stress brought on by the abuse.

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, a retired rear admiral, sent Navy Secretary Ray Mabus a letter on Sept. 11 asking about Rocha's treatment and Toussaint's promotion.

Sestak said he learned of the matter a few weeks ago.

Although the case doesn't involve any of his constituents, Sestak said he felt compelled to act after reading descriptions of hazing and apparent abuses in the kennel, which included having men and women simulate oral sex as part of dog-training exercises. He fully expected to find that someone had been held accountable, but the investigator's recommendations for action were redacted by the Navy.

"There didn't seem to be any accountability in what occurred," said Sestak, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He said he hopes the case is an aberration that somehow got lost in the chain of command.

Navy officials previously said Vice Adm. Robert Conway, then the head of naval installations, ordered that the commanding officers of any implicated sailor be notified of the findings.

It's unclear whether that happened.

Rocha said the Navy appeared to be moving toward a prosecution of Toussaint in 2007 but backed off without ever telling him why.

He said he is gratified that the Navy is now revisiting the case. "My only interest is that, although it's delayed, we see some commitment from the Navy to really stand up for its core values," he said.

In particular, Rocha said, he hopes the renewed inquiry will provide some answers for the family of Jennifer Valdivia, Toussaint's second in command and a mentor to Rocha. In another videotaped "training scenario" in which Toussaint was implicated, Valdivia was handcuffed to a bed wearing only a bedsheet and told to simulate lesbian sex with another woman.

Valdivia committed suicide Jan. 16, 2007, the day the findings of the Navy's initial investigation were forwarded to the commanding officer of the Bahrain base. She had taken over operations of the kennel after Toussaint transferred to a new job. Valdivia reportedly was accused of condoning the abuse - unjustly, in Rocha's view.

"As a 26-year-old female, she could never have stopped Toussaint," he said. "He bullied her. He would humiliate her in front of us. Those charges were totally unjustified."

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

Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276,

bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com