Lawsuit accuses Illinois suburban trustee of sexual assault, suburban mayor of retaliation
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Dolton Trustee and community activist Andrew Holmes has been accused in a civil lawsuit of sexual assault while attending a conference with village employees in Las Vegas last year.
The lawsuit, brought by a former employee of Dolton and a Dolton police officer, alleges Holmes sexually assaulted a village employee and that Mayor Tiffany Henyard tried to cover it up to protect herself.
They are both named as defendants in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Henyard and more than a dozen others attended a conference in Vegas last May. On May 26, after a group dinner, a Dolton employee went out with Holmes.
She said at some point, she felt disoriented, lightheaded, and felt as if the ground was moving.
She said she then blacked out.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that same night, Holmes called the mayor's security detail, who is also a Dolton police officer, to discuss his alleged sexual advances.
According to the lawsuit, that officer had reason to believe Holmes was drunk since the conversation was out of the ordinary. The officer then started to record Holmes before talking with him on Facetime.
On the Facetime video, he saw Homes shirtless and the alleged victim partially undressed. Holmes pointed the camera toward her, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the officer said he couldn't tell whether she consented. The next morning, she allegedly woke up fully dressed and unclear of what happened.
The lawsuit claims Holmes talked to the officer again after returning from Las Vegas, admitting he had sex with the village employee on the trip. The officer said in the lawsuit he then advised her to seek medical attention.
The Las Vegas Police Department confirmed they are conducting an ongoing investigation involving Holmes. They did not confirm whether it involved sexual misconduct.
The alleged victim requested a meeting with Mayor Henyard. Henyard met with the officer and the alleged victim, even questioning the officer why Holmes would reveal this information to the officer, according to the lawsuit.
During that meeting, Henyard advised the alleged victim if the information got out, Henyard would be ruined, the lawsuit claims. She concluded the meeting by telling the alleged victim she'd take care of it. That meeting allegedly resulted in the village employee being terminated, along with the officer being demoted and removed from the mayor's security detail.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is investigating Henyard's spending of public funds, is also investigating this incident as well.
CBS 2 reached out to Holmes and Henyard. Holmes declined to comment, and Henyard has not yet responded.