Up to 133 Tied to Scandal at Naval Academy

Eighty-one Naval Academy students confessed to cheating and as many as 133 midshipmen may have had an advance look at a 1992 electrical engineering test, a Navy report released Monday said.

Most of the midshipmen involved “repeatedly lied until confronted with irrefutable proof of their involvement,” said the report, which criticized the Naval Academy’s handling of its largest cheating scandal ever.

Navy Secretary John Dalton removed the academy from further involvement in the investigation because of a widespread perception among midshipmen that the original investigation was unfair.

“The majority of midshipmen interviewed did not feel truth was found, or even seriously sought,” the report said.

Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, the academy superintendent, did not respond to questions about the handling of the investigation.

The report said many midshipmen believe that Lynch, a former academy football player, gave special treatment to a football player who was cleared of cheating even though a midshipmen honor board determined that he had cheated.

The report was conducted by the Navy Inspector General’s office.

The report also said many midshipmen do not live up to the honor code, which says they must not lie, steal, cheat or tolerate such actions by their classmates.