Woman accusing Andrew Cuomo of groping attack files criminal complaint, report says

New York governor ‘welcomes’ opportunity to prove innocence in court and not trial by newspaper

A criminal complaint has been filed against the New York governor Andrew Cuomo by a former executive assistant who accused the governor of reaching under her blouse and groping her, according to a report.

The woman, identified anonymously in the 165-page report released by attorney general Letitia James, alleged her boss grabbed her breast at the Executive Mansion in November 2020.

It is among the most serious allegations from the 11 women who have accused the governor of sexual harassment.

She filed the complaint with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday afternoon, according to The New York Post.

While Sheriff Craig Apple did not immediately respond to The Independent, he reportedly said the complaint has been communicated to the county district attorney’s office.

“The end result could either be it sounds substantiated and an arrest is made and it would be up to the DA to prosecute the arrest,” Mr Apple told the Post.

“Just because of who it is we are not going to rush it or delay it,” he added.

Mr Cuomo said in his video denial of the allegations that he expected a claim for damages from the woman and that the allegations would be decided in a court of law, not in a trial by newspaper.

“I welcome the opportunity for a full and fair review before a judge and jury because this just did not happen,” he said.

That defence was laid out by his attorney, Rita M Glavin, in an 85-page counter-report released on Tuesday under the section, “The Governor never groped Ms X.”

“The contemporaneous documentary evidence – which the Attorney General’s investigators apparently did not bother to review or consider – does not support this allegation.

“Contrary to Ms X’s interview with the Times Union that she was only at the Mansion a short time when she was groped and then left the Mansion, Ms X was at the Mansion for almost three hours that day,” Ms Glavin wrote.

“It is notable that, soon after Lindsay Boylan first made allegations against the Governor in December 2020, Ms X told the governor that ‘no one believes her’,” Ms Glavin added.