New allegation by upstate woman of unwanted kiss by Gov. Cuomo, attorney says
ALBANY, N.Y. — An upstate woman says Gov.
Andrew Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her on the cheek in a “highly sexual manner” while touring her storm-damaged home in 2017, adding to the growing number of misconduct claims against the embattled governor.
Sherry Vill, 55, said she was left rattled and afraid to come forward after the encounter in which Cuomo called her beautiful and twice kissed her aggressively on the cheeks during a visit to her home in Greece, a suburb of Rochester.
“I was being manhandled, especially because he was holding my face, and he was kissing my cheek again,”
Vill said during a virtual news conference Monday with attorney Gloria Allred.
The married mother of three said she knows the “difference between an innocent gesture and a sexual one.”
“I never felt as uncomfortable as I did the day Gov. Cuomo came to my house,” she said. “His actions were very overly sexual, highly inappropriate and disrespectful to me and my family.”
Someone from Cuomo’s office left Vill a voicemail days after the encounter asking if she would attend an upcoming event in the area.
The invite made no mention of her husband or family. “Only specifically me,” she said.
Vill never responded to the call and says she later received a letter from the governor that included a pair of photographs of him shaking her hand inside her home.
Allred showed off photos of the governor’s visit, including a still shot from video showing Cuomo leaning in for a kiss.
The high profile attorney said that while “technically if a person touches another person with the intent to touch that person, it is battery and a civil” crime, she and Vill are focused on cooperating with the independent investigation into Cuomo’s conduct being overseen by Attorney General James’ office.
Rita Glavin, an attorney representing the governor, issued a statement along with a link to photos from the same trip. Some of the shots show Cuomo holding and shaking hands as well as kissing another woman while clasping his hands around her face, which the governor has described as a customary greeting.
“During times of crisis, the governor has frequently sought to comfort New Yorkers with hugs and kisses,” Glavin said. “As I have said before, the governor has greeted both men and women with hugs, a kiss on the cheek, forehead or hand for the past forty years.”
Vill’s claim echoes several accusations made against the 63-year-old governor primarily by a series of staffers and former aides who say he made unwanted advances and inappropriate comments.