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Former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo won’t be charged in 2 harassment cases

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:


  • Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo won’t face charges in connection to allegations of unwanted kissing by two women.
  • According to Westchester County District Attorney, the allegations were “credible” and “deeply troubling” but not criminal.
  • The DA added the statute of limitations for the harassment allegations had lapsed.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will not face criminal charges related to two of the harassment allegations against him, according to the top prosecutor in Westchester County.

District Attorney Mimi Rocah said in a statement Tuesday that her office has found that the allegations and witnesses were ‘credible’ and ‘concerning’. However, the DA office “cannot pursue criminal charges due to the statutory requirements of the criminal laws of New York.”

The New York attorney general’s office concluded that Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women while he was governor. Rocah has focused on two incidents alleged to have occurred in Westchester County.

In the first instance, the disgraced former governor was accused of acting inappropriately with a female state trooper on his security detail at his Mount Kisco home.

The trooper asked Cuomo whether he needed anything, and “he responded by asking her if he could kiss her,” Rocah said. “She further indicated that she was concerned about the ramifications of denying the Governor’s request and so she said ‘sure.’ The Governor then kissed her on the cheek.

The second claim was made by a woman who said “Cuomo grabbed her arm, pulled her toward him and kissed her on the cheek without seeking permission for such a greeting while the two were at an event at White Plains High School.”

Rocah said her office’s inquiry “found credible evidence to conclude that the alleged conduct in both instances described above did occur” but did not fit the statutory requirements for prosecution.

The Nassau County district attorney made a similar announcement last week involving another allegation involving the same trooper at the Belmont racetrack.

The trooper told the attorney general’s office that Cuomo ran the palm of his left hand across her abdomen, to her belly button and then to her right hip, where she kept her gun, while she held a door open for him at an event in September 2019.

The district attorney, Joyce Smith, said her office had found that the allegations were “credible, deeply troubling, but not criminal under New York law.”

Cuomo has denied touching anyone inappropriately but acknowledged that he may have acted in ways that made people feel uncomfortable.

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Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday about Rocah’s decision.

Azzopardi said after Smith’s announcement last week that the determination was more proof that Cuomo, who resigned in the wake of the attorney general’s report, was mistreated.

Source: NBC News

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