Cuomo Charged With Misdemeanor Sex Crime

LONG ISLAND, NY — Scandalized former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was charged with a misdemeanor "sex crime" complaint filed after he was accused of groping a woman in the Executive Mansion in Albany last December.

According to a statement by Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the courts in New York State, a misdemeanor complaint was filed in Albany City Court against Cuomo, the Washington Post reported.

The complaint, filed with the Albany County Sheriff's Office, accused Cuomo of "forcible touching" and putting his hand under a woman's shirt, and onto her "intimate body part" . . ."specifically, the victim's left breast, for the purpose of degrading and satisfying his personal desires."

After a firestorm of controversy over accusations of sexual harassment, Cuomo announced his resignation in August.

The resignation came amidst cries for his impeachment or resignation, with even President Joe Biden calling for the beleaguered governor to step down.

Cuomo said litigation would cost time and millions of dollars that should be spent managing the coronavirus crisis and tackling other critical issues. Cuomo spoke of his three daughters.

"I would never intentionally disrespect a woman or treat a woman differently than I would want them treated and that's the God's honest truth," he said.

Cuomo's announcement was preceded by a briefing led by his attorney, outside counsel Rita Glavin, who went through Attorney General Letitia James' report, which concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women.

After the news broke Thursday, James released a statement: "From the moment my office received the referral to investigate allegations that former Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, we proceeded without fear or favor. The criminal charges brought today against Mr. Cuomo for forcible touching further validate the findings in our report."

Cuomo, a Democrat, had been under scrutiny during an investigation by James that spanned almost five months. Two outside attorneys spoke to 179 people who said that employees, including current and former members of the executive chamber, state troopers and additional state employees, reported a "hostile work environment" that was "rife with fear and intimidation."

Independent investigators led by Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark released James' report, stating that Cuomo harassed multiple women by engaging in unwanted groping, kissing and hugging, and making inappropriate comments.

The sexual harassment charges followed controversy over Cuomo's role in New York's nursing home deaths during the pandemic.

The news of Cuomo's stepping down followed the resignation of secretary to the governor Melissa De Rosa, as well as an interview by Brittany Commisso, Cuomo's former assistant who said the governor groped her.

Britanny Commisso, 32, publicly revealed her identity in August during a joint interview with CBS and The Times Union broadcast. She again detailed accusations that Cuomo groped her by grabbing her behind during a selfie and, later, cupping her breast.

"I was afraid that if I had to come forward and revealed my name, that the governor and his enablers, I like to call them, would viciously attack me, would smear my name, as I had seen and heard them do before to people," Commisso said in the interview.

Cuomo has denied Commisso's accusations and others from 10 women whose accounts were detailed in a bombshell report released last week by Attorney General Letitia James.

Commisso filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo in August.

"The governor needs to be held accountable," she said about the complaint. "What he did to me was a crime. He broke the law."

Cuomo's attorneys tried to question Commisso's account. Commisso, according to the Times Union, stood by her accusations.

For months, Cuomo had maintained that he "never touched anyone appropriately." He apologized to those he said he might have made uncomfortable. He has said he greeted women and men, young and old, the same way, with kisses and hugs.

"It was my father's way of greeting," he has said. "You want people to feel comfortable, to reach out to them."

He said, in a past briefing, if people were offended and "felt pain from it, then it was wrong and I apologize."