Women’s Groups rally to urge resignation of GOP Indiana attorney general

(Reuters) – Women’s and victims’ rights groups are planning to rally in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday to urge the state’s attorney general to resign following allegations that he inappropriately touched four women, local media reported.

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The afternoon demonstration to be held on the steps of the Indiana Statehouse would add to mounting calls for the resignation of Attorney General Curtis Hill, who has denied the allegations against him and is refusing to step down.

“We’re here to support the victims,” Lael Hill of the Indiana Coalition for Crime Victims Rights told WISH-TV in Indianapolis before the event on Saturday. “We’re here to say, ‘We support you and we believe you.'”

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb on Thursday joined Senate President David Long and House Speaker Brian Bosma in calling on Hill to resign following sexual harassment allegations that were uncovered by a legislative investigation. All four men are Republicans.

“The findings of the recent legislative report are disturbing and, at a minimum, show a violation of the state’s zero tolerance sexual harassment policy,” Holcomb said in a statement.

The report by the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm, prepared at the request of legislative leaders, cited four women who said they were groped by Hill in the early hours of March 15 at an Indianapolis bar where several lawmakers and aides had gathered following the close of the legislative session.

The report, dated June 18, was made public on Monday by the Indy Star, which did not reveal the alleged victims’ names.

But two women, State Representative Mara Candelaria Reardon, a Democrat, and Gabrielle McLemore, communications director for the Indiana Senate Democrats, identified themselves as two of the victims on Friday in letters to the Indy Star.

As recently as Friday, Hill maintained his innocence and rejected calls for his resignation.

“I am not resigning,” he declared on Twitter. “The allegations against me are vicious and false. At no time did I ever grab or touch anyone inappropriately.”

(Reporting by Peter Szekely; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)