A district attorney in upstate New York will not pursue criminal charges following sexual harassment allegations made against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Virginia Limmiatis accused Cuomo of running his fingers along the chest of her shirt in 2017 while the two attended a public event. Although Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes will not move forward with the criminal charges, he insisted the decision was “not an exoneration,” instead, it was made based on restrictions by the law.

While Oakes considered Limmiatis “reliable and reasonable,” there was “not a sufficient legal basis” to pursue the charges against Cuomo.

“The current sex offense statutes in New York fail to properly hold offenders accountable and fail to adequately protect victims,” Oakes said in a statement.

“If justice is to ever be obtained for the countless victims who are sexually abused and harassed in this state each day, the law must be revised and reformed to reflect the lived experiences of victims.”

Rita Glavin, Cuomo’s attorney, issued a statement in response to the decision.

“Truth and the rule of law prevailed, not politics or mob mentality,” the statement read.

Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesman, criticized New York Attorney General Letitia James' investigation into the sexual harassment allegations.

“This has always been a political hit job to further the Attorney General’s own ambitions, which both reeks of prosecutorial misconduct and has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars,” Azzopardi said in a statement. “As we’ve said since the beginning, the truth will come out.”

According to Limmiatis, she met Cuomo while standing in a rope line at an event in central New York. Limmiatis was dressed in a shirt with the name of the energy company she worked for written across the chest.

Cuomo then allegedly told her he was going to pretend there was a spider on her shoulder and used his hand to brush her chest.

Although Limmiatis told attendees about the incident, she didn’t share her story until she saw Cuomo’s press conference last year, in which he denied the sexual harassment allegations made by other women.

Even though Oakes can’t move forward with the case, he insisted the decision should not cast doubt on Limmiatis’ credibility, character, or experience.

Andrew Cuomo is far from the only powerful man accused of sexual misconduct to owe his behavior to not knowing better
Andrew Cuomo is far from the only powerful man accused of sexual misconduct to owe his behavior to not knowing better AFP / Johannes EISELE
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