LECHISLATOR
Assemblyman made gross come-ons: ex-aides
ALBANY — The state Assembly Friday was rocked yet again by lurid sexual harassment complaints against a lawmaker.
Three women who worked for Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak charged that the suburban Buffalo legislator subjected them to repeated advances and sexually charged comments.
They accused Gabryszak, a 62-year-old married Democrat, of pressuring them to stay overnight with him in hotels and join him in visiting massage parlors, according to-court papers filed Thursday.
Gabryszak also allegedly told two staffers they should wear bikinis to work, bragged that he’d had an affair with a former assemblywoman and joked that his penis had a tattoo.
The lawmaker even sent videos of himself “either receiving or pretending to receive” oral sex and told one of the women — Annalise Freling, 28 — that she was “so hot, you know what I want to do with you,” according to the explosive court document.
The women said their complaints about Gabryszak were ignored by their supervisor in the assemblyman’s office, Adam Locher.
There’s no indication in the court papers, however, that the women complained to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s office or anyone else in Assembly leadership.
Silver aide Michael Whyland called the allegations “very disturbing” and said the speaker was unaware of them until they appeared in the Albany Times-Union Friday morning.
Silver referred the matter to the Assembly ethics committee for a “full investigation.”
Gabryszak’s office did not return calls .
Niagara Falls attorney Johnny Destino, who represents Freling, Kimberly Snickles, 26, and Jamie Campbell, 24, declined to comment on the allegations. But he said two additional former Gabryszak staffers will be coming forward “in the near future” with allegations. None of the five women
still work for the assemblyman.
The accusations have a familiar ring — pervy Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn) was forced to resign last year for sexually harassing multiple women in his office.
Silver was blasted for mishandling that scandal after it was revealed he quietly settled two initial complaints against Lopez without alerting the ethics committee.
Silver was also criticized for his office’s handling of harassment complaints against Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner.
Gabryszak’s boorish behavior began in June 2010 and continued through this past October, even as the Lopez and Kellner controversies raged, according to the court papers.