Second NY prosecutor declines to seek criminal charges against Cuomo

A second New York prosecutor has decided not to pursue criminal charges against former Gov Andrew Cuomo over sexual harassment allegations that helped prompt his resignation.

Miriam E Rocah, the Westchester County district attorney, said Tuesday that her office had investigated accusations of unwanted kisses that two women — one a state trooper — made against Cuomo. The women said the episodes had occurred within her jurisdiction.

The women’s allegations were “credible” and Cuomo’s conduct was “concerning,” but his conduct was not criminal under state law, Rocah said in a statement.

The announcement came five days after Joyce Smith, acting district attorney in Nassau County, reached a similar conclusion after investigating a separate allegation made by the trooper involving an incident at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, New York.

Smith said that her inquiry had found the accusation “credible, deeply troubling, but not criminal under New York law.”

A spokesperson for Cuomo declined to comment. The former governor has repeatedly denied acting inappropriately with women, and he has insisted that the actions that gave rise to the sexual harassment allegations against him were misinterpreted.

In August, Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, released a report that detailed 11 women’s sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo. Some of Cuomo’s accusers were state employees, including the trooper, who was a member of his security detail. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, resigned shortly after the report was issued.

The trooper, who has not been publicly identified, told investigators that Cuomo had asked her in 2019 if he could kiss her while she was on duty outside the home in Mount Kisco, New York, where he was living at the time, according to Rocah’s statement and the attorney general’s report.

Fearful of saying no, she obliged, allowing him to kiss her on the cheek, according to Rocah.

Cuomo then “said something to the effect of, ‘Oh, I’m not supposed to do that’ or ‘unless that’s against the rules,’” Rocah said in her statement.

Thomas H. Mungeer, president of the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement that he “would not play Monday morning quarterback regarding the district attorney’s decision to not prosecute the former governor’s abhorrent conduct against a trooper.”

“However,” he added, “our trooper continues to live with what happened to her at the hands of someone she was tasked to protect.”

The second set of allegations that Rocah’s office investigated, which was not covered in the attorney general’s report, involved a White Plains, New York, public school office manager who has said Cuomo kissed her without her consent after a 2018 event at a local high school.

“He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him and kissed me on the cheek without asking if I was OK with such a personal greeting,” the woman, Susan Iannucci, said at an August news conference, according to lohud.com. “I smiled nervously afterward. I had to endure comments from people in attendance.”

“We are gratified that the district attorney’s office in their press statement today indicated that they found her allegation and Susan to be credible,” said Gloria Allred, Iannucci’s lawyer.

Rocah noted in her statement that her decision not to prosecute Cuomo did not preclude his accusers from suing him.

Cuomo does face a misdemeanor sex crime charge in Albany County based on a criminal complaint filed by the sheriff there. The Albany County district attorney, David Soares, who called the complaint “potentially defective,” has not yet committed to prosecuting the case.

“As of now, that is still the scheduled court appearance date,” Cecilia Walsh, a spokesperson for Soares, said Tuesday. “There are no additional updates at this time.”

The Oswego County district attorney’s office, which is investigating an allegation concerning an incident involving Cuomo in its jurisdiction, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney, which has also opened an inquiry, declined to comment.

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