New Delhi, Sep 10: US woman senator–who was accused of forcing her former chief of staff to perform sexual acts on her–has introduced a bill against sexual assault in the California Senate. This comes months after firing him for allegedly refusing her advances.
Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, a California Senate, has been accused of forcing a married former staffer into entering a “sex-based quid pro quo relationship” that left him with severe back and hip injuries. The female senator's former chief of staff, Chad Condit – son of former Congressman Gary Condit, reportedly filed a case against her last week for pressuring him to perform X-rated acts while travelling for work.
Suing Alvarado-Gil for allegedly creating a “hostile work environment,” the US senator's former chief of staff's lawsuit also alleges that during their final encounter, the senator asked him to do oral sex inside the confined space of a small car, riddling him with a back injury and resulting in three herniated discs and a collapsed hip.
“This was a sex-based quid pro quo relationship of unwelcome advances and sexual behaviours coupled with punishment and flexing of power,” the suit charges.
In a video posted on X, Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil talked of the prevalence of sexual assault and violence in the US while seeking support for her bill.
“April is National #SexualAssaultAwarenessMonth, and I am leading the charge with Senate Bill 268 – my bill will address a critical gap in the state's criminal justice system by reclassifying the rape of an intoxicated person as a violent felony,” she wrote.
In the video, Alvarado-Gil said an American is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds and the crime affects people of all genders and sexuality.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please know that it is not your fault,” she said in the video, asking citizens to help “end sexual violence”.
The bill which sought to make rape of an intoxicated person a violent felony and sought stricter punishment for sex crimes was passed in the senate on August 31.
