A former Fort Huachuca chaplain is facing seven Army criminal charges in the wake of his affair — in person and online from Iraq — with a Southern Arizona woman.
Capt. Mike Myers, 45, a chaplain with the 40th Signal Battalion from 2002 to 2005, has been charged with five counts of cyberstalking and one count each of adultery and conduct unbecoming an officer.
An Article 32 hearing — roughly the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding — will be held May 23 in Japan to determine whether Myers, a married father of two teens, should be court-martialed.
He now is stationed at Camp Zama in Japan and returned there from Iraq last fall.
The criminal charges stem from Myers' relationship with Joanne Ruffner, 33, a Tucson native and 1991 graduate of Palo Verde High School who now lives in Huachuca City, a few miles from the Army post where he worked.
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Myers, through his military lawyer, has declined comment on the situation.
In a detailed interview with the Arizona Daily Star earlier this year, Ruffner said she met Myers in 2004 through an online personal ad. He said he was single and claimed to be a military intelligence soldier, never mentioning that he actually was married and a chaplain, she said.
Their platonic relationship turned romantic in 2006, after Myers deployed to Iraq and they began corresponding by e-mail.
The couple set a wedding date, and met in Kansas City for a romantic liaison before Ruffner learned the truth and reported Myers to the Army for adultery.
A few days later, nude photos of Ruffner, which she said she had e-mailed to Myers while he was in Iraq, started showing up on sexually explicit Web sites.
Her co-workers also received e-mail copies of the photos.
Ruffner complained to the FBI in Tucson, and Army investigators in Japan assisted in the investigation.
Maj. James Crawford, a Camp Zama spokesman, said that once evidence was gathered the Army requested jurisdiction to prosecute the case.
"This was an individual who was a moral role model and authority figure," Crawford said.
"The Army does not tolerate this kind of behavior and felt it was important to prosecute."
Reached by telephone at her home on Tuesday, Ruffner said she was relieved by the Army's decision to lay charges.
"I'm happy they took it seriously," she said. "Hopefully, he won't be able to do this to anybody else."
Myers was disciplined by the Army in November for adultery and unbecoming conduct and no longer has chaplain duties, Crawford said.
The National Association of Evangelicals, which had endorsed Myers as a chaplain, pulled its endorsement after learning through news stories that he'd been punished for adultery.
Without a religious endorsement, Myers ceased being a chaplain, Crawford said.
If Myers is tried and convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum penalty of 27 years in prison and dismissal from the service, Crawford said.
The Army is keeping him on to retain jurisdiction over him during the legal process, Crawford said.
