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Army official faces charges
COURTS: A Temecula recruiter is accused of having sex with two high school girls.
By Rocky Salmon
TEMECULA - A Temecula Army recruiter was arrested on suspicion of having sex with two 17-year-old Paloma Valley High School students in April.
Sgt. Matthew Joseph Edward Green, 24, has been charged with four felony counts of having sex with minors and one misdemeanor count of giving alcohol to minors. He posted $25,000 bail.
"The district attorney's office takes this very seriously, given his position of trust as an Army recruiter," Deputy District Attorney Ambrosio Rodriguez said. "We will do everything we can to ensure that this thing won't happen again and Mr. Green is held responsible for his actions."
Green's attorney, Simon Aval, was unavailable for comment Wednesday, and no one answered the door at Green's Temecula home.
The Army already has punished Green internally after its own investigation, said Lt. Michael Oubre, battalion commander of the Army's Southern California recruiting. The Army is putting together a board to rule on whether Green should be separated from the service, Oubre said.
It is not the first time an Inland military recruiter has been accused of such crimes.
In May 2003, an Army recruiter formerly stationed in Moreno Valley pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl who was in the process of joining the Army.
In June 2003, a military jury convicted a Murrieta Marine of raping a 17-year-old girl in the back room of his Riverside recruiting office.
Green met the two girls at an Army recruiting seminar in February at Paloma Valley High School, Temecula police Lt. Darryl Birney said.
In the next few months, Green hung out with both girls several times, police said.
In April, Green had sex with one of the girls once and with the other girl on three separate occasions at his home on Calle Torcida, Birney said.
A month later, one of the fathers learned of the alleged sexual activity and called police.
The following day, the mother of the other girl found her daughter's diary and read about the encounters, Birney said.
Police talked to both girls, who said they had sex with the recruiter, Birney said.
Green denied having sex with the girls, Birney said. Green said he talked to the girls and took one of them home after she ran away, Birney said.
An Army investigation team learned of the allegations and investigated. Oubre said the investigators found that Green had violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice and that "negative consequences occurred."
The same investigation team recommended that Green be discharged, but because Green has been in the Army for six years, he is allowed to request a formal hearing to ask for a separation from the Army, Oubre said.
Authorities arrested Green at the beginning of October. He is due back in court Dec. 8.
Reach Rocky Salmon at (951) 375-3739 or rsalmon@pe.com
— Rocky Salmon
The Press Enterprise
2004-11-24
http://www.pe.com/localnews/southwest/stories/PE_News_Local_recruit25.e904.html
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