PSH-23-0052 - In the Matter of Personnel Security Hearing

On April 13, 2023, an Administrative Judge (AJ) determined that the Individual's access authorization under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 should not be restored.

The Notification Letter cited the Individual's admitted compulsion to engage in high -risk sexual behavior which led him to be vulnerable to coercion, exploitation, or duress and his admission that he found himself unable to stop this behavior, as well as a DOE Psychiatrist's conclusion that the Individual has a Pornography Addiction which the Psychiatrist concluded impairs the Individual's judgment, reliability, stability, and trustworthiness without evidence of rehabilitation or reformation.

After considering the evidence in the record, the AJ found that the Individual demonstrated impaired judgment when he chose to engage in adult-oriented chats with strangers on the internet, whom he believed to be foreign nationals, while maintaining a DOE security clearance.  The AJ further found that the Individual again demonstrated significantly impaired judgment by exchanging explicit photographs with these presumed foreign nationals. The AJ found that Individual further exhibited poor judgement, when he was extorted by one of these strangers and succumbed to the extortion attempts by making two payments to the extortionist, therefore demonstrating the potential national security implications of his behavior. In the opinion of the AJ, the Individual, however, exhibited sound judgement, courage, and integrity by eventually contacting law enforcement and the DOE to report the continuing extortion attempts.  Moreover, the AJ found that the Individual had begun to address the root causes of the behaviors that led to his impaired judgment and made him vulnerable to exploitation by attending a self-help therapy group for sex addicts and working with a therapist.  The AJ further found, however, that despite his efforts to control his behavior, the Individual, by his own admission, was continuing to engage in adult chats and was continuing to exchange explicit photographs with strangers on the internet, albeit at a reduced frequency - the same behaviors which led to his previous extortion and rendered him vulnerable to coercion, exploitation, or duress . Therefore, the AJ found that the Individual continued to demonstrate impaired judgment and to engage in behaviors which pose a risk to the national security and common defense.

While the AJ noted that the Pornography Addiction diagnosis is somewhat controversial, he further noted that the Individual, his therapist, and the Psychiatrist each agreed on the appropriateness of the that diagnosis to describe the Individual's mental health condition. Moreover, the AJ found that the Psychiatrist's opinions, that the Individual's present course of treatment for his Pornography Addiction was inadequate and had not been sufficiently effective, to be convincing.

The Administrative Judge therefore concluded that the Individual's access authorization should not be restored. (OHA Case No. PSH-23-0052, Fine)