An army officer was convicted and demoted late Monday for conspiring to solicit a prostitute linked to an alleged prostitution ring run by a sexual assault prevention officer at the base.
Master Sgt. Brad Grimes, 37, who was acquitted of other charges, was reduced in rank and pay grade, avoiding the harsher sentence of a year in confinement, reduction in rank to private and a bad conduct discharge, the Austin American-Statesman reports. He was stationed at Fort Hood, Tex.
Grimes had been accused of participating in the ring in which female army privates were allegedly recruited by Sgt. First Class Gregory McQueen, a coordinator with Fort Hood’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response Program. He has not been charged with a crime but came under investigation earlier this year in suspicion of being linked to a prostitution scandal.