THE PENTAGON — Defense Secretary Hagel made his first statement on recent allegations the sexual assault prevention coordinator at Fort Hood was running a prostitution ring, telling reporters that the whole situation was, if you stop and think about it, actually pretty hilarious.

“First off, I have to say it’s tragic that female soldiers were forced into prostitution,” Hagel said in a press conference at the Pentagon. “That is sad. We have relief societies, financial planning services, and other resources to help our service members out when they are strapped for cash."

"Now that that’s out of the way, you have to see the humor in all of this," he added.

Noting that Sgt. First Class Gregory McQueen was the coordinator for SHARP, or sexual harassment/assault response and prevention, Hagel said "SHARP coordinators get accused of sexual assault all the time — which is kind of funny — but this guy really upped the game.”

McQueen, who is still under investigation, faces at least 21 charges of …