Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged said at least three U.S. Marines were disciplined last year for a dalliance with a hooker. The incident came to light amid the sex scandal embroilling the Secret Service. Click below to find out more.
Panetta told reporters that three Marines and a U.S. Embassy staffer were punished in December after a brouhahas with a prostitute in Brasilia.
“Where it takes place you can be sure that we will act to make sure that they are punished and that that kind of behavior is not acceptable,†Panetta told reporters, noting that he had “no tolerance for this kind of behavior.
The prostitute was allegedly dumped out of a car after she got into a fight with the Marines.
She tried to crawl back into the vehicle, fell and was injured.
The American embassy reimbursed her for her medical expenses.
Two of the Marines involved got busted down in rank and the embassy staffer was shuffled to another post.
The incident came to light amid the sex scandal embroilling the Secret Service and military staffers after the operatives brought prostitutes back to their hotel rooms in Colombia ahead of a visit by President Obama.
Members of Congress have asked whether the incident was an aberration, or a symptom of how staff behave on overseas trips.
