CHARLESTON, S.C. — A former Rick Santorum campaign aide is being accused of sexually harassing two younger cadets while he was a student at The Citadel.
The accusations allege that Steven Munoz, now 23 years old and a graduate of the academy, used his authority over the younger cadets, then freshmen, to make unwanted sexual advances. The incidents occurred in 2010 and 2011, including one incident between Munoz and one of the cadets during a trip to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.
According to an internal memo obtained by Buzzfeed, officials at The Citadel notified cadets of the allegations this week and encouraged cadets to be aware of inappropriate use of authority.
The internal email also shows Citadel officials were expecting media coverage of the reports and were prepared for Munoz’s link to Santorum to be a focus.
Munoz ran an advance team for Santorum’s presidential campaign and also received payment from the Mitt Romney campaign for consulting this year. Romney spokespeople told BuzzFeed that Munoz was never employed by the campaign and did “a few ad hoc projects…on a per diem basis.”