Marine Corps Times

September 4, 2000 Monday

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BYLINE: By, Gordon Lubold

LENGTH: 404 words

The Navy psychiatrist accused of soliciting sex from his patients, including a female Marine and a Marine wife, pleaded guilty to four of the five charges against him.
Capt. Scott R. McClelland, 52, pleaded guilty in a pretrial agreement Aug. 22 to an article of conduct unbecoming an officer, which included charges of wrongful use of government property, sodomy, adultery and fraternization. In light of his plea, the military judge, Col. Alvin W. Keller, dismissed the other charges against McClelland to avoid duplication.
McClelland faces up to 11 years in prison, but his guilty plea could reduce that sentence, a Marine Corps official said. McClelland also risks loss of all pay and discharge from the Navy.
The former division surgeon for the 2nd Marine Division and head of the Camp Lejeune, N.C., base hospital mental health department was charged March 21. He had appeared in December on national television during an ABC news program about military suicides, a month before officials questioned him about the allegations.
According to the guilty pleas, McClelland took advantage of his position as a doctor to have sexual relations with at least one patient while pursuing another, a Marine staff sergeant, even after she was transferred, according to the Jacksonville Daily News. The plea also said he performed a bogus physical exam on a patient he was treating for bulimia, anorexia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, the paper said.
McClelland also was allegedly having an affair with a civilian woman. He has been married for 17 years and his wife, Peggy, appeared in court Aug. 22.
The Navy psychiatrist is a former enlisted Marine who received his commission in 1970. He served two years as a Marine artillery officer before leaving the Corps and attending medical school. He began his military medical career in 1981 as a Navy medical officer with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines at Camp Lejeune.
Since then, he has spent all but two of his tours with Marines. McClelland also served as senior surgeon with Air Alert Battalion in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, to provide counseling for survivors of the Marine barracks bombing. He is a decorated officer with two Meritorious Service Medals, a Navy Commendation Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon and the Marine Expeditionary Medal.
The court-martial is scheduled for Sept. 11. McClelland waived his right to a jury trial, opting instead to have a military judge decide his case.