Four women sue Indiana AG over alleged groping

Four women are suing Indiana’s attorney general in federal court after he allegedly groped them last year. 

The women — Niki DaSilva, Samantha Lozano, Gabrielle McLemore and state Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon (D) — accused state Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) of groping them at an Indianapolis party celebrating the end of the legislative session last year. Candelaria Reardon is a state lawmaker and the other three women are state legislative staffers.

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The women said in a Tuesday news release that they have tried to “comply with the existing reporting procedures and systems in place to address sexual harassment in their workplace,” but that these rules do not “adequately protect” state employees.

“We want to be agents of change for the pervasive culture of sexual misconduct that plagues the walls of government and other workplaces all across Indiana,” Lozano said in the statement. “All Hoosier workers, including state employees and our elected officials, deserve to feel safe in their work environment and protected from wrong doers.”

Hill reportedly put his hands under Candelaria Reardon’s clothes and grabbed her buttocks. He also allegedly grabbed a legislative employee’s buttocks and inappropriately touched two of the other staffers, in addition to telling women at the party they needed to “show a little skin” to be served faster.

The suit comes after Indiana special prosecutor Daniel Sigler refused to bring charges against Hill in October. He said he believed the women’s stories to be “true and credible,” but he did not see sufficient evidence for prosecution.

Hill has denied the allegations, telling the Indianapolis Star last year that “at no time was my behavior inappropriate nor did I touch anyone in an inappropriate manor.” 

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R), as well as state House Speaker Brian Bosma (R) and state Senate Majority Leader David Long (R), have all called on Hill to step down.

“We do not believe that Curtis Hill, as chief law enforcement officer of the State of Indiana, can continue to perform his duties, nor should he, and we call for his immediate resignation,” Bosma and Long wrote in a joint statement in July.

The women are also pursuing state-level charges of battery, defamation and invasion of privacy, per their Tuesday statement.