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4th Herman Cain Accuser: "He Grabbed My Genitals"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 7, 2011
Modified Nov 7, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 7, 2011
Modified Nov 7, 2011
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Previous sexual harassment allegations against 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain have all been shrouded under confidentiality agreements and behind anonymous sources. But earlier today, a former employee of an agency involved with the National Restaurant Association gave a press conference in New York and claimed that Cain sexually assaulted her in 1997 after she asked him to help her find a job. Sharon Bialek alleges that after a dinner in which Cain told her that he "upgraded" her hotel room, he drove her to NRA headquarters, when he "reached over and touched my leg and grabbed my genitals…he then grabbed my head and pushed it towards his crotch...He said, 'You want a job, don't you?'"
Bialek, standing next to her attorney Gloria Allred, spoke of how she found Cain to be "incredibly inspirational" when he spoke at a luncheon before the incident occurred. "When he sat down, I said to him, 'When are you running for president?'" After she was laid off at her job at the educational foundation, she reached out to Cain for help, and met him in D.C., when the incident allegedly occurred.
Allred said that her client is not planning on filing a lawsuit, and Bialek said she was coming forward because she wondered how many other women Cain had harassed, and wanted to speak out against the abuse. Cain's camp has responded with the statement: “Just as the country finally begins to refocus on our crippling $15 trillion national debt and the unacceptably high unemployment rate, now activist celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is bringing forth more false accusations against the character of Republican front-runner Herman Cain." It continues, "All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false. Mr. Cain has never harassed anyone."
That may be true, because this doesn't sound like sexual harassment, but sexual assault.
Tagged
2012
2012 election
end of the line
herman cain
republicans
sexual assault
sexual harassment
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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