U.S. Army captain resigns after claiming he photographed soldiers in shower
A U.S. Army captain accused of taking nude photographs of female soldiers as they showered while on duty at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison resigned to avoid a court-martial.
A U.S. Army captain accused of taking nude photographs of female soldiers as they showered while on duty at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison resigned to avoid a court-martial.
Leo Merck, 32, who had commanded the Pittsburg, California-based 870th Military Police Company since early 2002, finalized a deal with the Army on Wednesday, according to an Army spokesman at Fort Lewis in Washington state, where the 870th Company was discharged after leaving Iraq last month.
"Captain Merck did resign in lieu of elimination from the service, which could have led to a court-martial," said the spokesman, Joe Hitt. "It was approved and he departed Fort Lewis on May 19."
In November, three female soldiers filed a complaint accusing him of peering under a shower curtain and photographing them while they were naked.
The incident took place at Abu Ghraib around the same time other American soldiers engaged in acts of sexual humiliation and abuse of Iraqi prisoners, which have led to the widely publicized prisoner abuse scandal. The 124 members of the 870th Company were not involved in the abuse, according to an Army report. Merck, a financial analyst in civilian life, had been stationed in Kuwait until last month, pending court-martial proceedings.