Admiral Forced Out After Conviction

In the latest setback for an increasingly beleaguered Navy, a senior admiral in Europe has been demoted and forced to retire early after being found guilty of sexually harassing a woman who works for him, the Navy said Friday.

A Navy inquiry concluded this week that the officer, Rear Adm. Ralph L. Tindal, who is deputy commander of NATO forces in Spain and Portugal, was involved in ‘an inappropriate” year-long affair with a female enlisted aide.

Tindal, a 55-year-old Naval Academy graduate, was found guilty of adultery, fraternization, conduct unbecoming an officer and sexual harassment, said Rear Adm. Kendell Pease, a Navy spokesman.

Tindal was given a punitive reprimand, fined a month’s pay of about $7,700, and placed under house arrest for 30 days.