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Woman alleges Gov. Cuomo kissed her without consent

A woman has come forward alleging that that Gov. Andrew Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her without her consent, and she says the encounter was caught on camera.

News 12 Staff

Mar 29, 2021, 7:31 PM

Updated 1,345 days ago

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A woman has come forward alleging that Gov. Andrew Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her without her consent, and she says the encounter was caught on camera.
The allegations were detailed during a Zoom news conference Monday with the accuser and her attorney, Gloria Allred.
The woman, 55-year-old Sherry Vill, says she was shocked when Cuomo allegedly kissed her in front of her home in Greece, New York. Vill, who is married, said it happened in 2017 when the governor was visiting the area to view flooding damage.
Vill said Cuomo kissed her cheek in front of family members while inspecting her flood-damaged home in what Vill felt was a “highly sexual manner.” She alleged that he also kissed her cheek again outside her home in a “very aggressive manner."
"I felt like I was being manhandled,” said Vill.
Allred displayed an image of the encounter that she said was blurry because it came from a video that was taken by Vill's son.
Allred also read a letter that she said Vill received from the governor following the visit. The letter focused on recovering from the flooding.
Allred said she plans to contact the office of Attorney General Letitia James, who is conducting an investigation into the accusations against Gov. Cuomo.
It comes after several staffers, current and former, have accused him of harassment.
Cuomo has apologized for making inappropriate comments at work but has denied any allegations of unwanted touching.
In a statement, an attorney for Gov. Cuomo said: "During times of crisis, the Governor has frequently sought to comfort New Yorkers with hugs and kisses.  As I have said before, the Governor has greeted both men and women with hugs, a kiss on the cheek, forehead or hand for the past 40 years. I encourage everyone to look at other photographs from his visit to Greece, NY that day. Nothing described at today's press conference was unique in that regard.  Three other related points concerning Gloria Alfred's press conference:  (1) the July 19, 2017 letter from the Governor that Ms. Allred displayed was a nearly identical follow-up form letter sent to more than 30 people that the Governor visited to support and assist following the Lake Ontario flooding, and those form letters were signed with an autopen; (2)  it is a practice of the Governor’s office to send signed photos to people he meets with after events, and those photos are regularly signed with an autopen; (3) it is common for staffers to contact constituents after events and invite them to a future event on a related topic.”
Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.