INDIANAPOLIS (WDRB) -- Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill won't face criminal charges in the alleged drunken groping of a lawmaker and three legislative staffers at a party in March.
Special Prosecutor Daniel Sigler announced his decision Tuesday morning, saying the investigation into the allegations against Hill, a Republican, is closed.
Sigler said Tuesday that he considered misdemeanor battery charges against Hill, but witnesses gave varying accounts of what happened in the Indianapolis bar.
Sigler said he believed Hill drank a "significant" amount of alcohol that night but that prosecuting him would be tough because several weeks passed before the allegations were raised. He said that he believes claims of the four women, but he said he doesn't have sufficient evidence to prosecute.
"I did believe (the accusers), but nonetheless, I didn't think I could meet my burden," Sigler said.
In the report released Tuesday, Sigler said he found the accusers' motives sincere and that he believed Hill, a Republican, had "touched them in a way that was inappropriate."
All four accusers were in the room as word came there would be no criminal case. It's the first time Samantha Lozano had shown her face with the complaint ... alongside State Rep. Mara Rearden, Niki DaSilva and Gabrielle McLemore.
"We've put ourselves out there" McLemore said. "We put our jobs and reputations on the line just to be told you can be believed, but there's nothing we can do."
The firestorm around Hill centers around a party at AJ's Bar in Indianapolis in the overnight hours from March 14-15 as lawmakers, lobbyist and legislative staffers celebrated the end of the 2018 legislative session.
Hill staunchly denied the allegations from the start.
"I stand before you a condemned man, condemned without trial and condemned without notice, condemned without the benefit of any basic rights that ensure fairness," Hill said in a July news conference.
Yet he only spoke with investigators through videotaped statements answering questions posed by his own attorney. According to the reports released by the special prosecutor and Indiana's inspector general, Hill only admitted to pulling the women closer so they could hear him the crowd.
"The Special Prosecutor’s investigation exonerates and absolves Mr. Curtis Hill of any factual and legal criminal behavior," attorneys James H. Voyles and Jennifer M. Lukemeyer released in a prepared media release. "We never doubted Mr. Hill would be cleared of any alleged crimes ... Mr. Hill will continue to serve the people of Indiana."
Attorney Kimberly Jeselskis represents the four women who accuse Hill. She and other attorneys for the women filed a tort claim Tuesday with the state of Indiana that's required before the state can be sued.
Jeselskis said the women plan to sue Hill, the state of Indiana and Indiana's attorney general's office. The claims they intend to pursue include assault, battery, defamation and false imprisonment.
"Hoosiers know what is right," Rearden said. "We know the egregious behavior exhibited by Curtis Hill is wholly unacceptable. We can and should do better."
The investigation into Hill also revealed four other women at the bar for the post legislative session who said they Hill touched them in a way that made them feel "uncomfortable." They were lobbyist, who did not file complaints.
Gov. Eric Holcomb released a statement saying he believes Hill's accusers:
“I said I believed the women who stepped forward to report sexual harassment by the Indiana Attorney General. The special prosecutor agreed and said, ‘I have accepted the victim statements as true.' The findings show a disregard of the executive branch zero tolerance harassment policy. My position has not changed.”
Sigler was appointed in July to review the state inspector general's findings from an investigation into the allegations against Hill and to determine whether he should be charged.
Below is the special prosecutor's report:
Copyright 2018 WDRB Media. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
