Oswego County DA Drops Sexual Harassment Case Against Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo
OSWEGO, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An upstate district attorney has decided not to pursue criminal charges against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
It marked the last of five district attorneys who were investigating sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo, CBS2's Dick Brennan reported Monday.
The decision essentially ends the criminal investigation against the former governor with no charges filed.
Gregory Oakes, the DA from Oswego County, who probed allegations from one woman of unwanted sexual contact with Cuomo, outlined in a report by Attorney General Letitia James.
Virginia Limmiatis said Cuomo touched her inappropriately when greeting her at a conservation event in 2017. During a deposition by the Attorney General's Office, she claimed Cuomo ran his fingers over her shirt.
"Like this, touching each of the letters, yep," Limmiatis said, "and he came over to the side of my face to my cheek and he whispered in my ear and his face was right up to my cheek and he whispered in my ear and he said I'm gonna say there's a spider on your shoulder."
But the Oswego DA said in a statement that there was "not a sufficient legal basis to bring criminal charges" against Cuomo, while adding, "In no way….be interpreted as casting doubt upon the character or credibility of Ms. Limmiatis, or how harmful the acts she experienced were."
Cuomo's spokesman released photos, saying that they were hidden from the public and claims they show the governor did not act improperly.
In a statement, Cuomo's spokesman said, in part, "What a farce this has been from the beginning. None of the accusations in Tish James' fraud of a report have stood up to any level of real scrutiny."
While other women have made allegations of inappropriate behavior by Cuomo, district attorneys in five counties, Nassau, Manhattan, Westchester, Albany, and now Oswego, have declined to press charges against Cuomo.
The former governor has denied all the allegations.
While the criminal investigations are apparently over, the legal challenges are not. Cuomo will be facing civil suits from some of his accusers.