Nassau DA: Former Gov. Cuomo’s actions at Belmont Park ‘deeply troubling', but not criminal

Cuomo repeatedly denied all allegations of sexual misconduct in August 2021 when James published a report saying the then-governor had sexually harassed at least 10 women.

News 12 Staff

Dec 23, 2021, 9:02 PM

Updated 1,050 days ago

Share:

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has avoided criminal charges for an alleged incident that happened in Belmont Park during September 2019.
The acting Nassau district attorney said in a statement in part: “Our exhaustive investigation found the allegations, credible, deeply troubling, but not criminal under New York law.”
The allegation came in August when the state attorney general’s report found that then Gov. Cuomo had sexually harassed a female state trooper on his detail.
The female trooper had been moved to Cuomo’s protective detail in January 2018. She told the state attorney general investigators that the governor’s behavior was “flirtatious” and “creepy.”
The specific alleged incident that was being investigated involved the trooper holding open a door for the governor. She says he ran his hand across her stomach from her belly button to her right hip.
In transcripts released in November by Attorney General Letitia James, the trooper told investigators: “I felt like completely violated because to me, like that’s between my chest and my privates, which, you know, if he was a little bit north or a little bit south, it’s not good.”
Keith Scott, executive director of The Safe Center LI, says the criminal justice system does not always provide justice to victims.
The Safe Center LI provides services to victims of sexual and domestic abuse.
“It’s not the district attorney’s fault, many times our laws, not every act of harassment falls under a legal statute,” Scott says.
Scott says even though there were no criminal charges, it is still a step forward in the “Me Too” movement because voices are being heard.
Cuomo repeatedly denied all allegations of sexual misconduct in August 2021 when James published a report saying the then-governor had sexually harassed at least 10 women.
A spokesperson for Cuomo released a statement Thursday saying in part: “With each passing day it becomes more and more clear that the Attorney General’s report was the intersection of gross prosecutorial misconduct and an abuse of government power for political purposes. Her press conference proclaimed, '11 cases of violations of federal and state laws,' ignited the cancel culture mentality and started a media and political stampede against Governor Cuomo."
The statement went on to say: “James never presented the evidence to support such claims, her report omitted important exculpatory facts, she admitted her personal interference in preparing the report and had still refused to answer any questions from the press. It was obviously a political springboard to remove Governor Cuomo so she could run for office, however it was so poorly done and obviously it backfired and James’ run for governor lasted only 5 weeks.”