"Very disturbing" charges against Secret Service supervisor
WASHINGTON -- The Secret Service has placed a high-ranking supervisor on administrative leave and suspended the supervisor's security clearance after what it called "allegations of misconduct and potential criminal activity."
Xavier Morales, a senior supervisor had been celebrating a promotion last week on the night he allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward a female colleague, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Plante.
The woman told officials Morales grabbed her and tried to kiss her, but gave up after a struggle. When the incident was reported last Thursday, his security clearance was suspended and he was placed on leave. D.C. police say he has not been charged with a crime.
In a statement provided to CBS News, new Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said: "The Secret Service is an agency that demands that our employees conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity. These allegations as reported are very disturbing. Any threats or violence that endangers our employees in the workplace is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
Clancy had promoted Morales as part of a restructuring of the agency after a series of embarrassing incidents. Those include a 2012 prostitution scandal during a presidential trip to Colombia and a security breach in September that allowed a fence jumper to run all the way to the East Room of the White House.
Last month, two senior agents drove into an active bomb investigation at an entrance to the White House compound. The agents were coming from a colleague's retirement party and officers on the scene reported that they seemed "extremely intoxicated."
In a series of Congressional hearings, Clancy has said he's working to fix things.
"It's going to take time to change maybe some of this culture. ... We've made significant changes to the traditional culture and structure, the structure of the upper management, and we are new, including myself."
Morales' case will now be investigated by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, but the IG is reviewing four other cases as well, so it may be early fall before he rules on this one.