EVERETT — The former commanding officer of the Everett-based guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen is scheduled to face a court-martial Friday at Naval Base San Diego in a trial that is expected to last all day, Navy Region Northwest spokeswoman Sheila Murray said.
Cmdr. Jay D. Wylie, 40, led the Momsen from July 2010 until he was relieved of duty in April.
According to the Navy Times, Wylie is facing charges of one count of rape, two counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of abusive sexual contact, one count of sodomy, two counts of maltreatment, three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and four counts of violating general orders.
The charges stem from two alleged incidents, one with a female Navy officer on Dec. 31 and another with a female sailor on April 25.
Wylie was fired at the end of April by the commander of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group due to “loss of confidence in his ability to command stemming from allegations of misconduct.”
While the Navy investigated the charges of misconduct, Wylie was reassigned to the Pacific Naval Surface Forces in San Diego, Murray said.
Wylie, a native of Glendale, Calif., earned his commission as an officer in 1992.
He led the Momsen in a seven-month deployment during which the destroyer’s crew interrupted a pirate attack on a merchant ship in the Gulf of Oman. The Momsen later sank both of the pirates’ skiffs.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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