Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany · 2005

United States: Army chaplain court-martialed in Germany for forcible sodomy against enlisted men he was counseling

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Captain, U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, Roman Catholic priest providing pastoral counseling to enlisted soldiers

Organization

U.S. Army Chaplain Corps

Spiritual nexus

Arflack abused enlisted men who came to him specifically for pastoral counseling — one victim was being counseled for homesickness and family troubles at the time. His authority was doubly asymmetric: officer rank over enlisted troops, and confessor/priest over men seeking spiritual and emotional support, which he himself named in his own apology ('ashamed of what he had done as a priest and an officer').

Pastoral or clerical authority
Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2005-11-01 · sentencing

U.S. Army court-martial, Bamberg, Germany. guilty plea to 3 counts forcible sodomy (plus indecent act, fraternization, conduct unbecoming); sentenced to 5 years, dismissed from Army

Documented coercion mechanisms

used one-on-one pastoral counseling sessions (for homesickness/family troubles) as point of access
compound authority of officer rank plus chaplain/confessor role over enlisted men

Primary record

Sources

WFMY News 2 / Associated Press (2005) 'US Army Chaplain Sentenced To Prison For Sodomizing Troops', 1 November 2005.: Capt. Gregory Arflack, a 44-year-old Roman Catholic priest and Army chaplain, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty at a court-martial in Bamberg, Germany, to three counts of forcible sodomy against enlisted men. One of the victims, whom Arflack had been counseling about homesickness and family troubles, told the court about the abuse's impact. Arflack apologized during the court-martial, saying he was ashamed of what he had done as a priest and an officer.
9News/AP (2005) 'U.S. Army chaplain convicted of forcible sodomy against enlisted men'.: Confirms Arflack's guilty plea and court-martial conviction; assaults occurred in Doha, Qatar (21 June 2004) and in Bamberg, Germany (29-30 July 2004). Judge Col. R. Peter Masterton ordered Arflack dismissed from the Army with forfeiture of all benefits, in addition to the prison sentence.
Stars and Stripes, republished by BishopAccountability.org (2005) 'Bamberg Chaplain Suspended during Sexual Assault Probe: Army Investigating Allegations Priest Forced Himself on Soldiers', 17 August 2005.: Details the Army's suspension of Arflack pending investigation into allegations that he, as chaplain, forced himself sexually on soldiers under his pastoral care, including men who had come to him for confidential counseling.

Related record

Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts

← Explore all cases