Navy officer testifies she worked for ‘D.C. Madam’

WASHINGTON —  A Navy officer could face punishment, including discharge, after testifying Thursday that she moonlighted for the alleged prostitution ring run by the so-called D.C. Madam while stationed at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca C. Dickinson managed the Naval Academy’s food services between September 2004 and May 2007, Navy officials said.

She also taught a course on leadership for the department of leadership, ethics and law.

She testified Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington that she worked as an escort for a service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

Dickinson, 38, a Tennessee native, said she worked for the business -- known to her clients as “Renee” -- for about six months starting in October 2005.

A Navy spokesman said Dickinson had been placed on leave pending further review.

“We expect the men and women who serve in our nation’s Navy to adhere to a standard of conduct that reflects our core values of honor, courage and commitment,” said the spokesman, Capt. Jack Hanzlik.

“Lt. Cmdr. Dickinson’s conduct will prevent her from wearing this uniform again in the service of our country.”

Dickinson testified that she found Palfrey’s company in an Internet search in 2005, called a number and arranged to go on a “test run” with a man in Howard County, Md., for which she was not paid, according to a transcript of Thursday’s testimony.

She later charged $275 for her appointments, which lasted up to 90 minutes and almost always included sex, Dickinson testified.

“I wouldn’t do anything I wouldn’t feel comfortable with,” Dickinson testified.

Dickinson is among about a dozen women who have testified this week against Palfrey, saying that they were call girls.

Palfrey, 52, of Northern California, is accused of running a prostitution business for 13 years in the Washington area, with high-profile government officials among her alleged clientele.

She is charged with racketeering, money laundering and using the mail for illegal purposes.

Records seized by investigators have implicated a number of prominent alleged clients in Washington, including Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

Also on the list: Randall L. Tobias, a former chief executive of Eli Lilly & Co. who resigned from the State Department last year after being linked to the service; and Harlan Ullman, a military strategist who is credited with the concept of “shock and awe.”

Palfrey has maintained that she ran a legal escort service whose employees were instructed not to have sex with clients.

Her attorneys have said they might call Vitter as a witness.

Dickinson testified under grant of immunity, which the Navy says effectively precludes a court-martial or federal criminal prosecution.

However, the Navy said she might still face administrative punishment -- such as an other-than-honorable discharge, which would trigger a loss of benefits.

Dickinson, who is less than a year from being eligible for retirement benefits from the Navy, has won four Navy/ Marine Corps achievement medals and two commendation medals in her military career, which began in 1986. She was reassigned in May to the Naval Supply Corps School in Athens, Ga.

The Navy removed her from her duties and placed her on leave after being notified by federal prosecutors about her role as a witness in the D.C. Madam case, said Hanzlik, the Navy spokesman.

Dickinson “could be released from active duty without benefits. And for somebody [who has] a little better than 19 years of service, as you can imagine, that’s a pretty substantial loss,” Hanzlik said.

Jonathan Gladstone, Dickinson’s attorney, said that she would not comment on the case but that her work for Palfrey was her only experience as an escort.