'Teasing And Flirtatious' Sen. Silverstein Didn't Harass: Report

CHICAGO, IL — State Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) did not engage in sexual harassment while working with a victims rights advocate, according to an inspector general's report made public Thursday. However, the senior North Side Democrat acted "in a manner unbecoming of a legislator in violation of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act," wrote Julie Porter, an Evanston attorney appointed special legislative general last year to investigate a backlog of ethics complaints against lawmakers in Springfield.

Last fall, Denise Rotheimer testified that Silverstein, a senior Democrat elected nearly 20 years ago, made unwanted comments about her appearance while sending her hundreds of Facebook messages and phone calls. She accused him of abusing his power by using the fate of a bill she was sponsoring to help victims of crime cover legal costs to become inappropriately intimate, and then killing it when he thought she had a boyfriend.

Rotheimer described herself "as a victim of Silverstein who was hostage to the Facebook exchanges and had to pretend that she was interested" in order to get his help with the legislation, according to the report.

After interviewing witnesses and reviewing several hundred of the messages the two exchanged, Porter found that Silverstein did not engage in sexual harassment as defined in the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.

“Silverstein never requested sexual favors from Rotheimer, and there was no conduct of a sexual nature. I also find that Silverstein did not make ‘sexual advances’ to her, welcome or unwelcome,” the report said.

"Although some of the messages were intimate and hinted at an interest in sex, they were ambiguous, and I do not find a preponderance of evidence to support that there was a sexual advance or conduct of a sexual nature," Porter wrote.

"Silverstein should have been much more cautious and conscientious about engaging in these types of teasing and flirtatious communications with someone he knew was depending on him to advance legislation.

“Legislators are public servants, held to a higher standard,” Porter wrote. “Even the appearance — which Silverstein himself created — that Silverstein felt enamored with a bill proponent and may have used his office to advance or impede legislation as a result is problematic and warrants my finding.”

Her report recommended that Silverstein receive ethics counseling.

Rotheimer, who has previously said the investigation was rigged in Silverstein's favor, said she was "livid" about the findings. She told the AP she believes they will discourage others from filing complaints against powerful lawmakers.

“For [special legislative inspector general Julie Porter] to victim-blame and to say I was flirting with him, that shows that the whole system is corrupt,” Rotheimer said Thursday. “The process is worse than the abuse because now I’m being blamed.”

Silverstein has declined to answered any questions about the findings, only releasing a statement saying he was "grateful that we have an independent inspector general who saw the facts for what they were."

"My priorities are now my family and my re-election," he said.

Since 1999, Silverstein, formerly the chair of the Democrats' caucus, has represented the 8th District on Chicago's North Side, which includes parts of Skokie, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles and Glenview.

He faces four primary opponents, Caroline McAteer-Fournier, Zehra Quadri, Ram Villivalam and David Zulkey.

"The public trust in the senator has evaporated. We need a senator who doesn't require 'ethics counseling,'" McAteer-Fournier said, in response to the release of the report. "Women all over the country are putting a stop to this nonsense, and we can do it here in the 8th District too."

Silverstein is still 45 signatures short on his petition to get on the March 20 ballot, according to WLS-AM. He is also facing a pending objection to his candidacy, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

»More: Sen. Silverstein Resigns From Senate Role Amid Sexual Harassment Claims

Read the complete report from Special Legislative Inspector General Julie Porter: