Crouching in the showers?
- Guardsman Probed for Iraq Naked Soldier Photos
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The head of a U.S. military police unit at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison is under investigation following charges he secretly photographed naked female American soldiers, officials said on Wednesday.
Capt. Leo Merck, 32, a member of the California National Guard who commanded the 124-strong 870th Military Police Company, is under U.S. Army investigation and has been relieved of duty, they said. …
Merck, a veteran of the first Gulf War who worked as a financial analyst before going to Iraq, is suspected of photographing the soldiers as they showered. The Guard said complaints were made against Merck in November. His unit arrived in Iraq in May a year ago. …
The Contra Costa Times, which broke the story on Wednesday, quoted Spc. Myrna Hernandez, 26, as saying she saw Merck photograph her as she was showering with two other women.
“I saw a guy get on all fours with a digital camera in his hands. His head was going under the wall, and we made eye contact,” she told the newspaper. “I was in shock, like what do I do now?”
Meanwhile, out at sea…
- Navy investigates camera in USS Coronado women’s shower area
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Naval Criminal Investigative Service and 7th Fleet staff officials on the USS Coronado are investigating who may have placed a wireless video camera found April 14 in one of the ship’s shower areas designated for women.
America’s finest!