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The
Boston
Globe
Key aide
to Patrick accused of sex assault
Fla. police say teen,
15, was molested
By Andrea Estes,
globe.com from the Web, February 7, 2008
A top official in the Patrick
administration has been placed on unpaid leave because he was arrested in
Florida and charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old male in a steam room
at a $500-a-night Gulf Coast resort.
Carl Stanley McGee, 38, assistant secretary for policy and planning, is
scheduled to be arraigned next week for sexual battery in Lee County, Fla. McGee
helped draft Patrick's casino bill, life sciences legislation, and his plan to
bring broadband Internet service to the farthest reaches of the state.
According to police reports, McGee was arrested Dec. 28 and accused of
performing oral sex on the 15-year-old, who was a guest at The Gasparilla Inn &
Club, a 95-year-old hotel and championship golf course in Boca Grande.
McGee was held overnight on a $300,000 bond.
Few state employees were aware of the arrest. An account had appeared in
the local newspaper, the Boca Beacon. McGee's co-workers said they had
been told he was out sick.
McGee, whose annual salary is approximately $150,000, could not be reached for
comment. His lawyer, Charles Rankin, did not return phone calls from the
Globe.
Kofi Jones -- spokesman for McGee's direct supervisor, Secretary of Housing and
Economic Development Daniel O'Connell -- issued a brief written statement
saying, "Mr. McGee was placed on administrative leave effective January 7,
pending the outcome of the matter."
McGee, a former Rhodes scholar and Harvard Law School graduate, was previously a
corporate lawyer at the law firm WilmerHale.
He was instrumental in the movement seeking to defeat efforts to overturn
legalization of same-sex marriage, serving as director of the civic and business
outreach efforts of the advocacy group MassEquality.
A year after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in May 2004,
McGee's wedding to John Finley IV was highlighted in the "Vows" section of The
New York Times. Former state senator Jarrett T. Barrios officiated.
Known for his shock of platinum hair, McGee was named one of The Boston Globe's
25 most stylish Bostonians in November.
In the article, he described his style as "traditional, but it's also subversive
and ironic."
"You cannot wear pinstripe suits and have my hair color," McGee said.
Friends and supporters in state government were stunned by the news of McGee's
arrest and said they do not believe the charges.
"I know it didn't happen," said one official, who asked for anonymity because
she was not authorized to speak on the matter.
According to a probable cause statement filed by the Lee County sheriff's
office, an "unknown white male" approached the alleged victim the day before the
alleged assault, striking up a conversation with him in a bathroom.
The next day, the alleged victim was in a steam room when the same man, later
identified as McGee, entered the room and sat beside the teenager.
McGee is accused of masturbating and performing oral sex on the teenager.
An officer from the Lee County sheriff's special victim's unit tried to
interview McGee that day, but he refused to answer questions without a lawyer
present, according to the probable cause statement.
Later that day, another officer spotted McGee, who voluntarily went with the
officer.
The alleged victim then "positively identified the individual as the person who
sexually battered him, " the probable cause statement said.
McGee's arraignment on the charges was scheduled for Jan. 28, but was postponed
until Feb. 11, according to Lee County court records.
Two days after his arrest, he was stopped for speeding in the same Florida
county and assessed a $181.50 fine.
According to county records, he is due back in court for a traffic hearing Feb.
13.
Andrea Estes can be reached at
estes@globe.com.
(Emphasis Added)
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