A criminal case accusing former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of a sexual misdemeanor was filed in a court in Albany, the state capital, on Thursday (28).
It is the new chapter involving the sexual harassment accusations against the Democrat, who resigned from office in August, after the results of an investigation by the Attorney General’s office were made public.
In the complaint, released by NBC, the victim says that Cuomo would have, in December 2020, placed “his hand under her blouse and on her private parts”. He would even have groped the woman’s breast “to satisfy his sexual desires.” The harassment reportedly took place at the Democrat’s mansion while they were alone.
According to the American newspaper The New York Times, the complainant was a former executive assistant to Cuomo, who reportedly filed a criminal complaint against him two months ago. Also according to local media, the accusation was the result of an investigation by Albany District Attorney David Soares.
Forced touch is a misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in prison. To typify it, prosecutors must demonstrate that the defendant acted to degrade the victim or for his own sexual gratification.
So prosecutors have to prove several elements of the crime, including that Cuomo’s touch was intentional and forceful. The former governor and his lawyer deny any wrongdoing.
In early August, an investigation conducted concluded that Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women and violated state and federal laws while creating a “climate of fear” in the workplace.
State Attorney General Letitia James said the former governor groped, kissed and hugged women without consent and made inappropriate comments to them. The prosecutor added that Cuomo’s office had become a “toxic” workplace, which allowed “the harassment to occur.”
Investigators spoke with 179 people, including whistleblowers and current and former members of the government, and the inquiry presented at the time was 168 pages long. In one of the cases, Cuomo allegedly harassed a police officer. According to the investigation, in an elevator, the former governor stood behind the victim and “drawn his finger from his neck to his spine and said, ‘Hey, you.'” The governor also reportedly moved “her open hand from her navel to her hips, where she carried the gun”.
After the allegations, he again denied the accusations and said that “the facts are very different from what was portrayed”. “I want you to know directly from me that I have never inappropriately touched anyone or made inappropriate sexual innuendos,” he said in a televised speech. “I’m 63 years old. I’ve lived my entire adult life in public view. That’s not what I am. And that’s not who I was.”
This Thursday, Letitia James re-quoted the inquiry and commented on the criminal action filed in court in Albany. “The criminal charges brought today against Cuomo for forced touch further validate the findings of our report,” she said in a statement.
A week after the inquiry was released, amid electoral and party pressure – including from President Joe Biden – Cuomo resigned from his post. Since then, New York has been run by former deputy governor Kathy Hochul, who became the first woman to govern the state.
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