Sex-Related Charges Filed Against Retired Maj. Gen. Hale

Army Maj. Gen. David Hale, who was allowed to retire with honor this year despite suspicions that he had affairs with the wives of four subordinates, has been charged with 17 military offenses.

The charges against Hale, 53, include having sexual relationships with the women, lying to investigators and obstructing justice. He could get up to 56 years in prison if convicted at a court-martial.

Hale had served only four months as the Army’s deputy inspector general in the Pentagon when he retired in February. He was a top NATO commander in southern Europe when the affairs allegedly took place.

Hale has declined to comment but has denied the allegations to an Army inspector general.

When Hale’s case surfaced this year, some congressmen complained of a double standard in allowing a senior military officer to retire quietly amid sexual allegations while people of lower rank were court-martialed.

An investigation will be conducted at Ft. Lewis, Wash., before the Army decides whether to court-martial Hale. He would be only the second Army general to be court-martialed since 1952, said an Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Guy Shields.

The obstruction charges, filed Wednesday, include an allegation that he told one of the women that if she did not keep silent, he would testify against her in a child custody case, the Army said.

Hale also is accused of telling a civilian government employee to delete computer files relevant to an investigation by the Pentagon’s inspector general in February.

The Hale case has been contrasted with the court-martial of Gene C. McKinney, the former sergeant major of the Army.

McKinney, the Army’s highest-ranking enlisted man, was reduced in rank and reprimanded after he was convicted of obstruction of justice in a sexual misconduct case. He was acquitted of 18 counts that alleged sexual harassment of six military women.

McKinney’s lawyer said his client was being treated far more harshly than many officers who had faced similar allegations.