Document: Female soldier complained about recruiter last year

LEBANON, Ore. -- A National Guard recruiter accused of sexually abusing a female recruit made sexually suggestive comments to another female recruit last year, according to a sworn statement obtained by KVAL News.

"He said my hair looked really good down, he made a comment about my perfume and I smelled really good," the woman said in a sworn written statement filed with Joint Foce Headquarters in Salem, Ore., last September. "Then he said that my boobs looked really big and asked if I had implants or done something to make them look bigger then proceeded to tell me that I should show him my boobs. I just got really red in the face and didn't say anything because he's an NCO and my superior officer."

The Linn County Sheriff arrested Tim Fox, a National Guard recruiter and Lebanon City Councilor, on suspicion of first-degree sex abuse this week after a female recruit reported Fox, who the rescruit said had made lewd comments to her before, led her to a secluded part of the building, exposed his genitals and requested a sexual favor.

Fox is out of jail on bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 14.

Fox is on paid administrative leave from the National Guard and from his paid position as a Lebanon High School tennis coach.

Captain Stephen Bomar, the spokesperson for the Oregon National Guard, said Wednesday that Fox's arrest was a shock.

"There is nothing that we've seen that has led up to this," he said. "We were contacted yesterday, and so the investigation will go on."

Asked Friday whether he would stand by that statement, Bomar declined to comment.

After the report Wednesday, the father of another female soldier contacted KVAL News and said his daughter had a run-in with Fox last year. The father, who requested anonymity to protect his daughter, provided KVAL News with a copy of a sworn statement he said his daughter made to Oregon National Guard officials last year.

"Fox walked by me, squeezed my knee and said 'What's up hottie,' " the soldier wrote. "SSG Fox would make comments about ... how I"m too young to settle down and that I just need to get a 'f--- buddy' so I can enjoy my single life."

The father said he gave the same document to Linn County Sheriff's investigators. The sheriff's office would only confirm that they were following up on other leads in the case.

The document, a completed DA Form 2823, is a sworn statement "to provide commanders and law enforcemet officials with means by which information may be accurately identified."

The complaint alleges Fox made sexually suggestive comments to the woman, who Fox had recruited into the Guard. The female soldier says in the statement that when she asked another guardsman about it, he said quote "that's how Fox acts with all the females."

Bomar with the Oregon National Guard would not comment on the case against Fox, the sworn statement from last September or whether there had been any other allegations against Fox.

He said the Guard takes such complaints very seriously. He said, in general, "there would definitely be an internal investigation and depending on what the sworn statement entailed it could be turned over to civil authorities in a different circumstance."

Bomar also said recruiters receive training on sexual harrassment every year.