WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:26 — 2.0MB)
Four women, including a Democrat lawmaker, filed a lawsuit today against Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill.
Representative Mara Candelaria Reardon and three legislative aides at the time, state in their suit that they were repeatedly groped by Hill last year.
Hill allegedly drunkenly groped, sexually harassed and assaulted the women, at an end-of-the-legislative session party last March.
The former Elkhart County prosecutor has repeatedly denied the allegations, and refused calls from fellow Republicans – including Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb – to resign.
A state-appointed special prosecutor chose not to indict Hill on the charges last year, although he noted that Hill did not deny touching the four women.
At a press conference today, lawyers for the women announced a federal suit against Hill and the State of Indiana for the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement official’s actions and discrimination the women allege they experience as a result of their allegations.
The lawsuit also calls for Indiana to re-evaluate and re-organize the way in which it approaches sexual harassment allegations.
The cases against Attorney General Hill are currently being reviewed by a special committee from the State’s Supreme Court. If found to have violated the ethics code followed by lawyers in the state, Hill could be disbarred.
The Indiana legislature passed sexual harassment prevention review policies for state representatives and lawmakers in March of 2018. That bill was signed on March 22nd, one week after the women allegedly were assaulted.
