Navy chief forced out over hazing probe

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has ordered a chief petty officer into early retirement at the end of the year over a hazing scandal in his unit.

Michael Toussaint was recently relieved of his duties in San Diego as part of the investigation into the occurrences in Bahrain where Toussaint was in charge of a canine unit.

Navy spokeswoman Elissa Smith said the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Gary Roughead had requested a new review of the investigation and "found that the incidents were not in keeping with Navy values and standards and violated the Navy's longstanding prohibition against hazing."

Smith told Stars and Stripes Roughead had also ordered naval investigators to take another look at potential criminal wrongdoing.

The newspaper said Thursday that Toussaint ran the Military Working Dog Division in Bahrain where 93 incidents of hazing and sex crimes were reported from 2004-2006. The offenses included beatings, attempted rapes and frequent verbal abuse.

The petty officer who acted as Toussaint's second-in-command during the period committed suicide after she was charged by investigators with failing to put a stop to the abuse.