Politics

Eighth woman accuses San Diego Mayor of sexual harassment

Richard Thompson Contributor
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San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is certainly racking up the perv points: an eighth woman has come forward to accuse him of inappropriate sexual behavior.

Lisa Curtin, a San Diego City College official, claimed the self-proclaimed serial hugger made unwanted advances towards her back when he was a congressman in 2011.

Curtin told KPBS News that the mayor asked her to privately meet with him after a business meeting. When the two were alone, Filner apparently grabbed her hand and twisted her wedding ring, asking if it was real.

Even after Curtin said she had been married for 25 years, the pushy politician persisted.

“He pulled my hand closer to him and he reached over to kiss me,” Curtin said. “I turned my head at that moment and on the side of my face, I got a very wet, saliva-filled kiss including feeling his tongue on my cheek.”

Curtin claimed that after she reported the incident to Filner’s staffers, they refused to do anything about it out of fear.

“Filner made it very clear how powerful he thought he was,” Curtin said. “He discussed that in the meeting: The kind of authority he had, that he had been pulling strings all over San Diego for many years.”

She later alerted San Diego Sheriff’s Department on a hotline designed specifically to deal with alleged Filner victims.

This recent revelation comes about a week after seven different women made similar allegations. These women include retired Rear Admiral Ronne Froman, political consultant Laura Fink, and Filner’s former communications director Irene McCormack Jackson.

Though many Democratic officials have called for Filner to resign, he announced Friday that he wil instead attend a two-week treatment program. The program began on Monday.

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Richard Thompson