Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was charged Thursday with a misdemeanor sex crime for forcible touching of a former aide.
He was charged in Albany City Court over the Dec. 7 incident at the Albany Executive Mansion.
A Misdemeanor Complaint was filed against him which described forcible touching as when a “person intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose forcibly touches the sexual or other intimate parts of another person for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person, or for the purpose of gratifying the actor’s sexual desire”.
Mariann Wang, the attorney for two of Cuomo’s accusers, released a statement Thursday saying “My clients are enormously grateful for the courage of the women who have come forward to speak the truth about Cuomo’s misconduct”.
Cuomo is being held to account as he should be, including by being forced to answer a criminal charge. We hope that all men who abuse their power by abusing women will see this and understand that there will be real consequences to their profoundly damaging behavior.
Mariann Wang
According to the Albany County Sheriff’s Office and the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, a summons has been issued directing the Cuomo to appear in Albany City Court on Nov. 17.
Following the allegations from 11 women in August, Cuomo resigned from his position as governor. During that time, he stated “I would never want to be unhelpful in any way, and I think given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing, and therefore, that’s what I’ll do”.
Attorney General of New York Letitia James made a statement saying “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,” she added.
The former governor is expected to be arrested next week.