Defence Force Magistrates Court rejects Sharon Aldrich’s guilty plea over Hawaiian hot tub flirting

An Air Force officer has admitted “hovering” over a subordinate’s lap and touching him underwater in a Hawaiian hot tub, only to have her guilty plea rejected.

Flight Lieutenant Sharon Aldrich leaves the Defence Force Magistrates Court in Canberra on Tuesday. Picture: Blake Foden

An Air Force officer has admitted “hovering” over the lap of a subordinate and touching the man underwater while giggling in a Hawaiian hot tub, only to have her guilty plea rejected.

That outcome was described as “perverse” in the Defence Force Magistrates Court on Tuesday, when Flight Lieutenant Sharon Aldrich attempted to plead guilty to prejudicial conduct.

She did so after the charge was amended to allege she had engaged in “intimate”, rather than “sexualised”, conduct with a subordinate.

Aldrich admitted she had been intimate with Flight Sergeant Darren Kevin Cox, 51, in a jacuzzi at the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel in November 2022.

The court heard Aldrich had been responsible for maintaining standards within a Royal Australian Air Force squadron, whose members were relaxing in the spa while on deployment on the evening in question.

Flight Lieutenant Sharon Aldrich, who attempted to plead guilty to prejudicial conduct. Picture: Blake Foden

But prosecuting officer Lieutenant Colonel James Thompson told the court several subordinates and a contractor had instead seen her behaving in a “flirtatious” manner with Cox in the corner of the hot tub.

Lieutenant Colonel Thompson said the incident became “the object of gossip” among other Defence Force members.

The incident occurred at Waikiki in Hawaii. Picture: iStock

He noted Aldrich had been the “personnel capability officer”, telling the court anyone who had an issue with Cox would have been reluctant to report it to her if they had seen the pair flirting.

But the Defence Force magistrate, Major General Michael Cowen KC, said he was “struggling to see” how a prejudicial conduct offence had been committed.

Major General Cowen repeatedly took issue with a lack of specificity in the material before the court.

He said it was unclear how long the touching had lasted and exactly where it had occurred.

Tourists on Waikiki Beach. Picture: iStock

The court heard Aldrich had been wearing a “tankini” and Cox a pair of board shorts, with the touching occurring around “the lower bather line”.

Major General Cowen expressed confusion about this and the “flirtatious” conduct, saying he didn’t know what that meant.

Told it involved the pair looking affectionately at one another while giggling, touching and sitting in close proximity, he asked the prosecutor: “Am I looking at you affectionately?”

Major General Cowen also noted he did not know how high Aldrich had “hovered” over Cox’s lap.

“Might have been a good quadriceps exercise,” he quipped.

Waikiki Beach in the US state of Hawaii. Picture: Getty Images

Aldrich told the court she understood that, by pleading guilty, she acknowledged her actions had been likely to prejudice the discipline of the Defence Force.

She said she understood the issue to be “the perception” her behaviour had created.

Her defending officer, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Tyson, urged the court to accept the plea.

Lieutenant Commander Tyson said rejecting his client’s plea, recording a not guilty plea instead and proceeding to trial was “not in the interests of anybody”.

“That does seem to be a perverse outcome,” he told the court.

But Major General Cowen said it was his duty to do that if he doubted whether the evidence made out an offence.

He said he could not be satisfied Aldrich’s actions had been likely to prejudice discipline because the material before him was “nebulous, subjective and impressionistic”.

Major General Cowen therefore recorded a not guilty plea and listed the matter for a three-day trial in July.

Cox was fined $1000 earlier this month after he pleaded guilty to prejudicial conduct.