McKinney Propositions, Warnings Told in Court

The Army’s former top enlisted man propositioned her while his wife sat at the bedside of their dying son, a female sergeant testified Monday in the sexual-misconduct trial of Sgt. Maj. Gene C. McKinney.

McKinney’s invitation followed months of pressure for sex that included cornering her in his Pentagon office and warning her that he was “a powerful man that makes things happen, good and bad,” Sgt. Christine Fetrow said.

Fetrow was the first witness for prosecutors who claim that McKinney, 47, was a sexual predator who abused his authority. She accounts for 10 of the 19 charges against McKinney, ousted as sergeant major of the Army after six women accused him of misconduct last year.

All testified at an eight-week preliminary hearing last summer, alleging misconduct from 1994 to 1997.

Fetrow said McKinney pursued her for more than two years, including a call shortly before his teenage son’s death in March 1996. McKinney told her the boy, his only child, was in a coma after a car accident in Florida and that McKinney’s wife was with the boy, she testified.

“He said he just needed someone to comfort him. He said he needed something physical,” Fetrow testified. She rebuffed him, and he later angrily told her she was insensitive for refusing his proposition, she said.

Earlier, Capt. Brian Dolan said in his opening statement that McKinney was a leader who abused his authority.

A lawyer for McKinney, however, questioned the truthfulness and motives of the women, and accused the Army of going after McKinney with a vengeance.

“This court-martial should cause every soldier grave concern,” defense attorney Lt. Col. James Gerstenlauer said.