NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A former intern accused city comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer of sexual abuse and harassment on Tuesday, according to the accuser’s attorney Patricia Pastor.
“First I want to make it clear, I condemn sexual harassment of any kind. I believe women have the right, they must be heard. But this isn’t me. These allegations are false,” Stringer said on Wednesday.
Jean Kim, spoke alongside her lawyer outside the comptroller’s office near City Hall, on Wednesday alleging that in 2001 Stringer repeatedly groped her, including repeated acts of unwanted kissing and touching while he was a member of the New York Assembly and running for Public Advocate of NYC.
“One evening, shortly before the primary, I was talking to Stringer about the primary when without warning, and without my consent, he kissed me using his tongue, put his hand down my pants and groped me inside my underpants,” Kim said.
Kim said she "pulled away and tried to avoid" Stringer who also allegedly warned her "not to tell anyone about it" and offered to get her a role as a district leader if she kept the alleged sexual misconduct a secret.
"I have tried my best to put this chapter of my life behind me, and forget about it all and move forward with my life, but I am coming forward now because being forced to see [Stringer] in my living room TV every day, pretending to be a champion for women’s rights, just sickens me when I know the truth," kim said.
“It’s unfortunately all too common that women report having been touched sexually without consent, and often men who engage this way are in a position of power and influence over the woman,” Pastor said. “I have great respect for women who choose to say, ‘enough is enough.’”
Stringer first denied the accusations late Tuesday night in a released statement.
“I firmly believe that all survivors of harassment have the right to come forward," the statement said. "I will reserve further comment until this person has had the opportunity to share their story."
"For now, let me say without equivocation: these allegations are untrue and do not reflect my interactions with anyone, including any woman or member of my staff,” he added.
Kim called on Stringer to “resign” from his role as the city's comptroller pos and also “withdraw” from the mayoral campaign “immediately.”
Last month, Stringer, a married father of two, called on Gov. Andrew Como to resign amid mounting claims of sexual harassment made against him which according to Pastor, pushed her client to come forward.
“She specifically is coming forward now because first she’s been seeing [Stringer] talk about how Cuomo should step down when the allegations came against Cuomo. She’s seeing that he holds himself out as some sort of progressive champion for women, and she’s disgusted by that, frankly, and that’s why she’s coming out now,” Pastor said.
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