Secret Service manager suspended after sex assault allegation

A senior Secret Service supervisor was suspended after alleged sexual assault of coworker
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

On Wednesday, the Secret Service disclosed that Xavier Morales, a recently promoted senior supervisor in the security clearance division, was placed on leave last week and at least temporarily stripped of his security clearance and gun after a female subordinate accused him of sexually assaulting her at the office after a work party. The March 31 party, at a Washington, D.C., brewery, had been to celebrate Morales' promotion to head of the Louisville office. He was supposed to start this week.

The D.C. police sex crimes unit and Homeland Security Department inspector general's office are investigating the allegations that Morales had grabbed and tried to kiss the coworker, after telling her at the party he wanted to have sex with her, The Washington Post reports. Morales, 48, is married to a special agent who was recently named a deputy assistant director at the Secret Service headquarters.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.