Navy Bars Tailhook Defense Attorneys : Hearings: Lawyers say officials will not allow them into disciplinary proceedings. So far, seven junior officers have been punished for their roles in the sex scandal.

The Navy’s handling of the Tailhook sex scandal investigation stirred new controversy Thursday when defense attorneys complained that Navy officials will not allow them into disciplinary hearings to represent their clients.

So far, seven junior officers accused of indecent exposure at the infamous 1991 Tailhook Assn. convention in Las Vegas have been punished for their roles in the incident. Pentagon officials recommended disciplinary action against 117 officers.

Navy officials refused to identify the seven officers but said each man received a letter of admonition and a fine of $1,000. In one case, the fine was suspended, a Navy spokesman said.

A letter of admonition goes in an officer’s personnel file and is enough reason to deny him promotion, a senior officer said.

The seven officers appeared at an admiral’s mast in Norfolk, Va., before Vice Adm. J. Paul Reason, commander of the Navy’s Atlantic surface fleet. An admiral’s mast is an administrative hearing that falls short of a court-martial.

Dozens of women, including Navy officers, were groped or sexually assaulted at the convention by Navy and Marine officers. An investigation by the Pentagon’s inspector general also revealed that several aviators exposed their genitals and engaged in public sex acts with prostitutes during the convention.

The Pentagon launched a nearly yearlong investigation after many women and members of Congress charged that the Navy had whitewashed its investigation.

On Thursday, Navy lawyers who have represented some of the accused officers for almost a year said the Navy is railroading their clients by not allowing them legal representation when they appear before the vice admiral.

By contrast, each of the more than 600 officers interviewed in San Diego by Pentagon investigators was allowed to have an attorney present during the interview, said one Navy official who requested anonymity.

Another official familiar with the mast proceedings said officers are not told of the specific allegations against them until they arrive in Norfolk.

This was confirmed by Cmdr. Ryland Dodge, Navy spokesman in Norfolk, but he added that most officers already have an idea of the accusations they face.

Dodge said regulations do not require the Navy to allow an attorney to be present.