Andrew Cuomo accused of forcible touching in criminal complaint
ALBANY, N.Y. — A criminal complaint filed by a police investigator with a court in Albany has accused former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of committing a misdemeanor sex crime, though there was confusion Thursday over whether the document was made public by mistake.
The one-page complaint, filed by an investigator with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, accused Cuomo of putting his hand under a woman’s shirt on Dec. 7, 2020. The document didn’t name the woman but Cuomo had been publicly accused of groping an aide, Brittany Commisso, at the executive mansion in Albany last year around that date.
The office of the county’s district attorney, David Soares, which would handle any prosecution and was involved in the investigation, issued a statement saying it had been caught off guard by the filing.
“Like the rest of the public, we were surprised to learn today that a criminal complaint was filed in Albany City Court by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office against Andrew Cuomo,” it said. “The Office of Court Administration has since made that filing public. Our office will not be commenting further on this case.”
The Times Union, of Albany, quoted unnamed officials as saying the complaint had been issued “prematurely” before a final decision had been made about whether Cuomo would face charges.
The office of Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple didn’t directly address that report, but confirmed in a statement that a criminal summons had been issued ordering Cuomo to appear in Albany City Court at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 17.
The statement suggested it was court officials, not prosecutors or a law enforcement agency, that made the decision to issue the summons. It said sheriff’s investigators had determined there was “probable cause” to present evidence to the court “for their review to determine the most appropriate legal pathway moving forward on the investigation.”
Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, said in a statement that the Democrat never assaulted anyone, “and Sheriff Apple’s motives here are patently improper.”
“Sheriff Apple didn’t even tell the District Attorney what he was doing. But Apple’s behavior is no surprise given (1) his August 7 press conference where he essentially pronounced the Governor guilty before doing an investigation, and (2) his Office’s leaking of grand jury information. This is not professional law enforcement; this is politics.”
The crime of forcible touching is punishable in New York by up to year in jail and up to three years probation, with discretion for the court to impose lesser penalties including no jail time.