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A Woman Who Accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo Of Groping Her Has Filed A Criminal Complaint

Updated August 6, 2021 at 4:53 PM ET

A woman who accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her has now filed a criminal complaint against him.

The woman filed her complaint Thursday with the Albany County Sheriff's Office. Her account was also included in the state attorney general's investigative report released this week that said Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women and created a hostile work environment.

In the state's investigative report, the woman is described as an executive assistant to Cuomo and says that the governor reached under the woman's shirt and grabbed her breast.

Cuomo's attorney Rita Glavin did not address the criminal complaint during a nearly hourlong news conference Friday. Cuomo has denied that he touched anyone inappropriately.

The governor's communications director, Richard Azzopardi, told NPR in a statement that they "proactively" referred the case to the Albany police in March when it first became public.

The sheriff's office told NPR it is not releasing any documents or information regarding the complaint at this time. "This is an ongoing matter that is under review," the office said.

Approval ratings for Cuomo have dropped significantly since the attorney general's report came out.

A Quinnipiac poll, conducted in the days following the 165-page report's release, shows that 7 out of 10 New York voters think the governor should resign and 55% think he should be charged with a crime. Nearly two-thirds of voters think Cuomo should be impeached from office.

Dozens of lawmakers, including President Biden, have called on Cuomo to resign.

New York State Assembly lawmakers have also indicated they are close to finishing their own impeachment investigation of Cuomo, which began in March.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Deepa Shivaram is a multi-platform political reporter on NPR's Washington Desk.
Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers breaking news on a wide range of topics, weighing in daily on everything from immigration and the treatment of migrant children, to a war-crimes trial where a witness claimed he was the actual killer, to an alleged sex cult. She has also covered the occasional cat-clinging-to-the-hood-of-a-car story.