High-Ranking Secret Service Supervisor Placed on Leave After Allegations of Sexual Assault

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — The Secret Service has placed a high-ranking supervisor on administrative leave and suspended the supervisor's security clearance after what it called "allegations of misconduct and potential criminal activity."

According to the Washington Post, the agent is Xavier Morales, a manager who made "unwanted sexual advances" toward a co-worker on March 31 after a party.

The Post said Morales told the woman he was in love with her and wanted to have sex, then tried to kiss her.

"The Secret Service is an agency that demands that our employees conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity. These allegations as reported are very disturbing," Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy told the Post. "Any threats or violence that endangers our employees in the workplace is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

Spokesman Brian Leary said Wednesday that the incident was first reported to the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility on April 2, after which inspectors conducted corroborative interviews. Clancy was informed the same day, and the employee was placed on leave.

A U.S. Secret Service agent keeps watch as President Barack Obama walks back to the Oval Office after a ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House, April 1, 2014. (AFP/Jewel Samad)

Leary said the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general is now investigating the incident.

The spokesman would not provide details of the allegations, but said the Secret Service takes them "extremely seriously."

It's the latest black eye for the agency assigned to protect the nation's president and his family. The inspector general is already investigating a March 4 episode in which two high-ranking agency officials are accused of driving into a secure area at the White House without authorization.

The House Oversight Committee is also trying to get to the bottom of allegations that those agents had been drinking when they drove into the area. The agents were accused of nudging a construction barrier with their vehicle as they intruded during an investigation of a suspicious item.

—