‘I want my name back’: Black Indiana attorney general says he won’t resign amid groping accusations
A sexual harassment scandal has rocked an Indiana attorney general who says he’s been falsely accused of groping four women.
A sexual harassment scandal has rocked an Indiana attorney general who says he’s been falsely accused of groping four women, reports the IndyStar.
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Amid calls for his resignation, Curtis T. Hill, defiantly said he will not step down.
“I am not resigning,” he wrote Friday in a statement posted to Twitter.
Hill told reporters, “A week ago today, I had a name, and I want my name back.”
“The allegations against me are vicious and false. At no time did I ever grab or touch anyone inappropriately. The lack of fairness and the failure to recognize my constitutional rights are a complete travesty.”
The Allegations
Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, a Democrat from Munster, and Gabrielle McLemore, communications director for the Indiana Senate Democrats, have been identified as two of the accusers. They sent op-ed letters to IndyStar, outlining their claims against Hill.
“I am not anonymous,” Reardon said in her letter.
“I am a wife, mother, business owner and a state representative. I am also a victim of sexual battery, perpetrated by Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill.”
Reardon said Hill “grabbed” her buttocks.
McLemore said in her letter: “I was trapped both physically and mentally by the state’s highest law enforcement official.”
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McLemore alleged Hill “cornered” her on a bar stool and began rubbing her back.
Hill came out swinging on Tuesday denying the accusations.
“We are living in a time where accusations alone have the power of conviction,” Hill said.
“I now stand falsely and publicly accused of abhorrent behavior. These false accusations have irretrievably damaged my reputation,” he said during a news conference. “I was not afforded fairness in the investigation.
Three of Indiana’s top Republican leaders, including Gov. Eric Holcomb, have asked for Hill’s resignation.
